Conclusion (GK)
Conclusion:
FINAL OUTCOMES:
- Identified why sustainability is a relevant issue at Lafayette College
- Regenerative workout equipment is a technically sound solution
- Regenerative workout equipment have very little financial value
- Analysis of the administrative obstacles facing project approval
The overarching goal of the “Greening Kirby” project was to address the issues of energy over consumption and sustainability at Lafayette College. Our research question: Can power generation in the Kirby Sports Center workout facility be used to strengthen discussions at Lafayette College about energy over-consumption in everyday life?, led to an evaluation of the viability and effects of implementing a specific technical solution to increase energy efficiency and strengthen Lafayette’s sustainability initiative. The analysis found that regenerative workout equipment can work towards solving these problems by directly reducing energy use in the Kirby Sports Center and raising awareness through educational programs and community engagement. While the project will not be implemented during the course of this report, our group concludes that the “Greening Kirby” project represents one viable solution to making Lafayette College more sustainable. Furthermore, we feel that our analysis accurately highlights current societal forces both on campus and globally that have brought sustainability issues to the forefront of the college’s agenda. It also identifies potential stakeholders and administrative obstacles that influence the design and implementation of similar projects at Lafayette.
As senior Engineering Studies students, our group’s job is to constantly challenge the assumptions that contributed to the construction of the initial research question. There are a couple of critical flaws with using this technology to advance awareness about energy over-consumption by users of the Fitness Center. First, our technical and economic analyses demonstrate that regenerative workout equipment, within the confines of Lafayette’s workout facilities, will not be able to produce enough electricity to financially break even. Given this information, it is clear that the project does not satisfy the college’s criteria for sustainability investments. However, as the social and political analyses demonstrate, the regenerative workout equipment project offers vast educational opportunities for Lafayette student and faculty members that can potentially offset the financial shortcomings.
The Greening Kirby project’s primary goal is to raise awareness about energy over-consumption and create lasting changes in the user’s attitudes. After evaluating the successes and failures of similar projects at other schools, our social analysis concluded that the installation of regenerative workout equipment by itself does very little to accomplish this goal. Since the equipment does not cause a significant change in behavior or attitude, it’s impact on users and the surrounding community are extremely limited. However, if the equipment is introduced in combination with educational and recreational programs, the project has a tremendous opportunity to change users’ mindsets towards energy conservation. If the Greening Kirby project is pursued in the future, our group highly recommends the design process incorporates plans to do so.
Financially the cost of implementing a solution in the Kirby Fitness Center that centers on regenerative aerobic machines is within reasonable ranges for the college to invest in. The actual cost to the college is not in the acquisition of these machines, as they can be bought when the existing machines in the Fitness Center need to be replaced. While it is true that these machines represent a premium to an alternative replacement option, it is not a heavily significant cost for the college to take on considering the social benefits that result from this type of campaign. There are many different areas that Lafayette College could look to when it comes to funding the acquisition of these machines, including a capital request or using the funds that the college has pledged to sustainability initiatives. However, these options depend on the administration identifying the “Greening Kirby” project as a viable method of achieving their goal of promoting awareness of energy consumption. So far, our group has received mixed signals from members of the administration that we have contacted. The administration is extremely financially driven, and views the recuperation of funds from energy production as essential to the overall success of a project that they decide to undertake.
The Greening Kirby project is a technical solution to a very complicated problem existing in the socio-technical environment we live in. However, based on the analysis done by this project, our group believes that there should be additional research into alternative forms of energy generation where there are better returns to scale, or that more effectively create a change in an individual’s daily routine. Using regenerative exercise machines is too passive, with too little electrical generation over time to be considered a front-runner at this time for the college to consider in its efforts to advance its sustainability initiatives.
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