A3 Grade 6: The Green Design Challenge

The CSS Green Building Challenge

Brief Project Description:

This project entails a choice between two objectives:

1) Design a rooftop greenhouse and outdoor communal cooking area.

Our school's rooftop can be made both accessible and safe for students, and has enough area to host a greenhouse and covered, outdoor communal cooking area for teaching our food-based courses and hosting family events in the adjacent gymnasium.

2) Design acoustic and aesthetic improvements of cafeteria.

Our school's cafeteria must seat 94 students, and currently is an acoustically-challenged space. The reverberation of student voices makes the room quite unpleasant and difficult to use for instruction. In addition, the visual aesthetics of the room are in need of an upgrade. Our student government has also voiced interest in having a snack bar for fundraising and enhancing the menu.

Deliverables:

Background investigation paper:

· Part 1: What is “green” design? How are building engineers adapting their designs to reflect a growing concern about environmental impact? Explore how the following concepts are a part of green design and give at least one example of each:

o Carbon footprint

o Energy efficiency

o Life cycle analysis

· Part 2a (for rooftop groups only)

o What is a green roof? How does a green roof illustrate the concepts of green design?

o How do greenhouses work? What are some common greenhouse designs and what are the differences between them? Which of these is most suitable for a rooftop project and why?

o What are the safety requirements for a rooftop project at a school?

o What are the design considerations for an exposed outdoor space such as a rooftop?

· Part 2b (for cafeteria groups)

o What are the different ways that energy and carbon are used during CSS lunchtime?

o Using what you learned about green design, how can the process of feeding students be changed to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprint?

o What are

o the different ways that energy is used in the physical lunchroom?

o Using what you learned about green design, what could be included in the new lunchroom to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprint?

o What is acoustic engineering?

o What designs do acoustic engineers use to soften the acoustics of a room that must hold large numbers of people?

Design products:

· Develop digital 2D scale drawings using a scale of 1 cm = 10 inches.

o One design per person in the group.

· Develop 3D SketchUp representations of your design

o One SketchUp per group using final design choice.

o Must have all dimensions labeled and to scale.

Design presentation:

Create a tri-fold board OR Powerpoint presentation and group binder/ folder that presents:

· Your group’s background paper

· Illlustrate design process and give the rationale for your choices: show all early designs in a binder and put the final design on the board. Present the reasons for your final design choices.

· Illustrate the green design principles used: Show how green design principles are used in your designs.