Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I am proud of successfully completing my block presentation as well as everything that I have learned. I do not know of any other schools that have projects and presentations as rigorous as the ones at iPoly, so completing them and getting a good grade is something I feel everyone should be proud of.
(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE-, I used some mini labs in order to better teach my answers to the audience. These mini labs were unique to my own since I had not seen any other presentations have them.  

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

P, I missed a few things but from the things that I did complete, they were AE work and well completed. 

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

The thing that worked for my senior project was the simplicity yet the complexity of my topic and the answers. I could give a brief description of what they were about or as I did, talk about them for 30 minutes which would seem impossible at a "normal" high school.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

I would not start the night before because I had to stay up late working on my presentation. This also affected the amount of mini labs I was allowed to have in my presentation because of the such short notice and all the materials that I would need. I believe that even with the minimal time, I was able to achieve in my presentation.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

After completing my senior project I am now able to break down research into a more of a useful aspect. (By looking at my research notebook, this can be observed.) At first my research was very basic with minimal complexity or information but as the year progressed my notes became more detailed and were better in almost every aspect. Also the senior project helped me with networking as well as communication and its importance. My mentor constantly had to meet with other specialists such as civil engineers or structural engineers in order to secure that a building was safe. Several meetings that to be arranged with an entire team of specialists to ensure progress in the plans as well as its security. A lack of communication and networking could lead to a long process for the meeting to occur as well as mixed information on the time and day of the meeting.

Mentorship

L:

Erik Peterson, architect at Claremont Environmental Design Group. 

I:

An important thing that I learned was networking with a team of individuals that must be collaborated with in order to have a successful product. I had seen numerous attempts by Erik Peterson and his fellow colleagues. It was important to speak with every member of the team in order to get the best results. 

A:

From doing my mentorship I have been able to answer my EQ with real world solutions. Such as my first and second answer which were obtained by observing a super adobe building located in Claremont and designed by CEDG. By obtaining a mentor like mr. Peterson he was able to explain to me first hand what he did and how he got the ideas for the window placement and style as well as building structures with materials found on-site. 

Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question and answers?  What is your best answer and why?

                What is the most important factor when designing a "green" structure? An architect should consider window placement and style, utilize alternative building materials that are found on-site, and designing so that a structure can have bio-mimetic characteristics. My best answer was an architect should consider window placement and style because window orientation is a small yet important energy efficient way to save energy and ultimately money.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

                This was the answer that seems as the most reasonable as the best answer because as people around the world are becoming more energy aware having great window orientation can help you be green while not changing your lifestyle. Many people think that simply adding a solar panel makes a building green but this is not true. Being green is a lifestyle for those who wish to make a true difference but green architecture allows for the average person to save energy because the energy saving techniques are incorporated into the buildings themselves. 

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

              There were no major problems that did not allow me to complete my senior project. One small problem that did present itself was the challenge of finding a mentor close to my house. Many of the architects I contacted were located in Pasadena or in a city that was a large distance. I resolved this problem by contacting the activities coordinator of an organization called Uncommon Good. This organization has recently constructed an adobe building which interested me in the energy savings in buildings. Luckily for me the offices of the firm that designed the building were located in Claremont which is only minutes from my house. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

                Solar Energy: Fundamentals to Building Design by Bruce Anderson was one of the my most important sources because not only was it loaded with what seemed like unlimited information, but also the word choice by Mr. Anderson was easy to comprehend.

My second most important source was Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism: Concepts, Technologies, Examples by Dominique  Gauzin-Müller and Nicolas Favet. This book gave me a broad understanding of sustainable architecture and the ways that it could be achieved. This book also gave me my second and third answers and elaborated on both topics.

Independent Component 2

(a) Statement saying: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b) Erik Peterson, My mentor, an architect for Claremont Environmental Design Group.
(c) Done.
(d) Interpretive
   From the hours of volunteering that I helped my mentor I was greatly impacted the most with the duration of the process as well as the patience and knowledge required to make a building go green. Research is also important, as my mentor greatly emphasized, and he used this to teach me even more. After researching and explaining the concept to my mentor I was able to make changes to a residential unit that had already been built and modified to be "green". I had to see what techniques I was able to use on this specific structure and I also had to explain why it was unique to that structure.

In the majority of all architecture there are a variety of printers in sizes and purposes. This one for example, is for 24 inch paper that makes the blueprints easier to read because of its size but difficult to move around.

When an architectural firm has been in business for 30+ years, the amount of blueprints saved from previous projects grows and storage becomes a real issue. About 10/13 of these rolls all have the same structure but are in different stages of the design process.

BY having printer accessible in the office extremely precise blueprints can be printed instead of having to be drawn by hand which could lead to mistakes.

Technology is slowly taking over architect business because of the efficiency and its ability to save paper and money. This also allowed my mentor to email my blueprints to review in an instant.


Applied

  This allowed me to answer my essential question in a more detailed way. Before this Independent component I had just researched the ways of making a building green but with the help of my mentor I was able to make the physical connection with all of the knowledge that I had previously read. During my final presentation I hope to have the students complete a very similar task as the one that I was given but of course in a shorter time span and will less detail but enough for them to grasp the concept. Also from this independent component I was able to better understand the design process of a structure because everyday that I was working on it represented one week of work that an architect would do due to the fact of having to meet with other engineers and architects. Every time I returned, my mentor would have some corrections that needed to be fixed in order to get the building approved. Of course it was not always a very small problem, sometimes a smaller problem led to even bigger problems.

Third Answer

Answer #3: By designing so that the structure may be one with the environment.

There are countless designs that integrate the environment with the structure resulting in a completely new and revolutionary project. A rooftop garden would be a great yet simple way to to this because not only is the garden allowing for additional insulation, it is also helping the native plants by giving them a space to grow. Another way that the environment can be used fro designing a structure is by placing it within a mountain allowing for coverage of cold breezes and allows for the light to come in. By placing a structure within the hill or mountain can reduce the energy bills of the structure allowing it to be efficient and one with the environment. Making/ designing a structure to be green may be good but designing it in order to be one with nature and still efficient is priceless.

Fourth Interview Questions

1). How can materials affect the way that can energy, money, and time can be saved?

2). What alternative building materials would you say are the most effective to build from?

3). What are the most important factors an architect should consider when designing a green structure?

4). How much information can be learned from previously built green structures?

5). How is designing a green structure from designing a regular structure?

6). Does designing green help the environment other than by saving energy?

7). What are the characteristics of a green building?

8). How can green building become a better known topic throughout the world?

9). What characteristics of green design can sometimes be out off during the design process?

10). Why do you think that window orientation can sometimes be overseen as helping the structure be green?

11). How can an architect make sure that the window orientation can be effective as well as aesthetically pleasing?

12).When throughout the designing process should the window orientation be considered?

13). What is the most difficult thing about designing a green building?

14). Which has the most energy savings? And in what ways? Residential, commercial, or industrial.

15).How does the L.E.E.D. do its screening on the structure that was built?

16).What are the biggest features that LEED looks for when doing its screening of the structure?

17). What green characteristics can be done by a homeowner?

18). What are simple yet effective energy saving ideas that can be done by a homeowner?

19). Do all green characteristics have to be done by an architect or engineer?

20). Does designing a green building longer? If so, by how much and why?

Advisory Meeting #2

                   EQ
Answer #2: An important factor to consider when designing a green structure are the materials that will be used for the construction of the structure.

The whole idea of being green does not mean just saving energy when the building is complete, it also means that energy has to be saved when the structure is being built.

1). By using materials that are on site there is no need for gasoline to be wasted on transportation of materials to the site of the construction. For example, a new and great idea is building with the dirt that is found on the site, this will reduce the energy and time lost because all the essential building materials will be at the builder's disposal.

2). Building with materials that are "cut to the job" can help save money and materials that may not be able to be used other places. One example of this is if you have a piece of wood that is 6"x 60" but the only available pieces of wood are 6"x 75". This would mean that out of every piece of wood 15" is being lost and being thrown away because it was not cut specifically for the job.

3). Using green materials can also help with money and savings over time. For example, a "green" type of insulation may be cheaper as well as more efficient at its job than regular insulation.

That is why materials are a significant factor when designing a green structure.