Conclusion

We have submitted the capital request form, in hopes of of approval for the implementation of the Solar Power-Dok on campus before the start of the Spring 2015 semester.  The amount requested on our submission was $11,370.00, which is the total cost as per the official price quote we received from Tom Davis, Vice President at EnerFusion, Inc.  Our outlook is optimistic, given the extremely positive feedback we have received from many members of the engineering faculty and student body.  The process our request will go through in order for a decision to be made was outlined in the policy section of our report, and although daunting, we believe Lafayette will view this project as an opportunity to make a commitment to sustainability on campus and approve the request.

As previously stated, the main goal of our project is to increase awareness of sustainable energy practices across the entire campus community.  Our first step in doing this was demonstrating the technology we hope to implement to members of the campus.  We set up in the student center, under a skylight so we could use the solar panels, and allowed students to use the solar panel we had to charge their mobile phones. During our demonstration we had a petition for members of the community to sign, giving them a voice in the issue as well as further raising awareness about a proposed solution for the campus.

We are only able to initiate a relatively slight degree of change to the Lafayette campus. However, the importance of getting started and fostering the necessary institutions to enact future change is vital to our goal of promoting a sustainable campus.  Achieving a sustainable campus is not a task that is completed in one semester, and it requires a commitment from campus administrators as well as students.  We have started an early dialogue on campus with our demonstration and petition.  By submitting the capital request form we have gone a step further and proposed to enact real, tangible change to campus.  This is where the college needs to show a commitment to us as students, and the campus community as a whole seeking sustainability on campus.  The action of the college will be a major determinant in the relative success of our project.  If the request is granted, we were truly able to enact positive change on campus and the project will successful in raising awareness and implementing change.