National Electrical Contractors Association

2014 Green Energy Challenge

For results of this Green Energy Challenge and the competitions of other years, see the GEC main page. Or, go to ELECTRI International’s competition page

For the 2014 Green Energy Challenge, teams were “invited to conduct an energy audit of a Student Union Building” (email from Sylvia Selwood, Director of Operations and University Relations at ELECTRI International). The Memorial Union is Iowa State’s student union, and the subject of Cyclone Energy’s focus for this year’s competition. The Memorial Union has an eclectic history, resulting in a union that is equal parts impressive and inconsistent. Parts of the union are original and need serious energy updates, parts are new and need little updating. One of the biggest challenges for the team will be determining how to make the whole energy system of the building flow seamlessly — similarly to Cyclone Energy’s team dynamic!

The Cyclone Energy team looking absolutely picturesque!

The Cyclone Energy team looking absolutely picturesque!

Requirements for the 2014 Competition

The competition is broken down into several different components that will be graded by a panel of judges. Cyclone Energy creates small teams of students dedicated to those sections. These small teams do the legwork for each section, and are in charge of making sure that Cyclone Energy as a whole team understands their findings.

Project Summary

Team members: Kate Glowacki, Andrea Dvorak, Britta Sortland
This team is in charge of the history of the Memorial Union, Cyclone Energy’s public outreach efforts, and the general cohesiveness of the project. These three women will make sure that the final product turned into the judges is something that we can be proud of.

Energy Audit

Team members: John Jensen, Justin Truckenmiller
These mechanical-emphasis students focus on the mechanical systems within the Memorial Union and ways the building’s envelope can be improved. An example of their work so far is in Hotel Memorial Union, which occupies the top three levels of the student union. They estimated the R-value of the exterior walls in the hotel rooms, determined that it was deplorably below industry standards, and are looking into the most cost-effective ways to decrease sensible heat loss.

Lighting Retrofit

Team members: Alex Buscher, Maggie Holt, Lucas Baxter
The lighting retrofit team is comprised of electrical-emphasis students. Their idea for lighting is to introduce LEDs and occupancy-sensors where possible. Because of the history of the Memorial Union and the many different systems currently in place, their biggest challenge is to standardize the lights throughout the entire building.

Solar Energy

Team members: Joe Hahn, Caleb Bonderer
The solar team is comprised of an electrical student and a building emphasis student. Introducing a solar energy source is a key component of the 2014 Green Energy Challenge. The solar team is exploring two possible locations for solar panels: the top level of the parking ramp, and above the bookstore addition. One of their challenges is to “integrate the technology into the image” of Iowa State University (2014 Green Energy Challenge Competition Scoring Summary).

Sub-metering

Team members: Lucas Baxter, Joe Hahn
The requirement to add sub-metering as part of the Green Energy Challenge is new, and poses a new challenge for our two electrical emphasis students. Sub-metering involves tracking the energy usage of the Memorial Union, and it will be incredibly complicated and challenging. Because the union is so big and has such varied use, the breakdown of sub-metering will necessarily be complex.