Problem Statement:
Design a system that generates usable electrical power from the doors in a specific building on campus.
Introduction:
For years, society has tried to advance technologies in attempt to help better our environment. Engineers, research teams and scientists have continuously struggled with the issue of providing renewable energy. Although we have seen some advances in this field, there is still much that needs to be done. At Binghamton University, sustainability is a main focus. With being listed as one of the top 18 environmentally friendly universities by Princeton Review, green is not just the color of the school, it is a main priority for administrators at the university. The next step in the university’s future is trying to implement a way in which you can harness everyday mechanical energy, like opening a door of a residence hall, and converting it to electrical energy. A residence hall is a building used by almost all college students multiple times a day. Although this little maneuver will not create much energy, in the long run it could possibly save a lot of money and energy. This paper will address various studies and methods that have attempted to save energy with doors. The studies explained in this paper will provide a deeper understanding of the problem statement and how to approach the issue.
Modifying Habits towards Sustainability
B.A. Cullum, Olivia Lee, Sittha Sukkasi, and Dan Wesolowski conducted a study on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology on increasing sustainability. These students address a need to modify habits of everyday-students so they would use a revolving door rather than a swing door to help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced. Cullum, Lee, Sukkasi,...
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...to us in these multiple studies and investigations done as our basis for our project. Although there were few errors into these other doors, we should still do further research to see if we could possibly improve upon their designs. I recommend that our team further research and explore these possibilities as a viable solution to our problem statement.
Works Cited
Cullum, B. A., LEE, O., SUKKASI, S., & WESOLOWSKI, D. (2006). Modifying habits towards sustainability: a study of revolving door usage on the MIT campus. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Limkhuntham, K., Ma, Q., Quach, V., & Yutuc, E. (2010). An Investigation into Energy- Generating Revolving Doors.
U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis. (n.d.). Short-Term Energy Outlook. Retrieved February 7, 2014, http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/report/e
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