This has been a busy semester! After working on Cornell’s entry into the 2009 Solar Decathlon Competition, several of the team members and I determined that we had the power to do something really amazing with the knowledge we had gained and resources we have available to us at Cornell. Hence, instead of entering into the 2011 Competition, we reformed Cornell Solar Decathlon into Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD). After nearly a year of planning, getting support, and developing detailed project proposals, we launched not one, but TWO projects this year! There was a huge outpouring of support from students, faculty, and staff.
Our first project, Schoolhouse: South Africa, is operating on a one year schedule. This semester was spent performing intensive site analysis and planning for a nursery school to be built in South Africa. The entire sophomore architecture class will participate in a studio to design the building next semester, and a group of two dozen students will travel to Africa this summer to construct the building! Check out the Schoolhouse: South Africa website for more information about the project!
Our second project, the Sustainability Research Facility (SRF), is the project that I have been heading up. We’ve been working with sustainability advocates across campus, several great faculty and staff advisors (including the university planner and the university architect), and tons of students to develop plans for a brand new research facility right on Cornell’s Ithaca Campus. The student designed and built facility will serve as a living laboratory for sustainability and energy research at Cornell. A first of it’s kind project, the facility will feature extensive self monitoring capabilities, a modularized design, and the ability to adapt to new research needs over time. You can learn more about it at the Sustainability Research Facility website!
My ulterior motive for telling you this? I worked very hard with several other members of the team to develop the websites linked above! Lots of sleepless nights, but I’m really happy with the way websites turned out. Tell me what you think! Join the newsletters for each project if you want to be kept up to date (forms on sites). Or follow them on facebook and twitter .