Team Members:
Carson Bryan – Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering
Tyler Elsom – Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering
Sachin Gokhale – Graduate Student in Mechanical Engineering
Matthew Hyland – Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering
School: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Challenge: Solving Market Adoption for Emerging Efficiency Technologies
Problem Definition: Develop an innovative, holistic solution that will increase the accessibility, purchase, installation, and use of energy efficiency technologies in buildings (residential, commercial, new, or existing). This will lead to reductions in energy use and carbon emissions, and fewer inequalities in obtaining new technologies for identified stakeholder groups.
Project Title: IAQ Accessibility Improvers
Solution: As a direct result of the large size of the city, many neighborhoods of Los Angeles are plagued with high crime rates and lack funding for public infrastructure. These problems are not only responsible for a lower quality of life for the residents of these neighborhoods, but they play a role in preventing future improvement of the community. Our group plans to implement redesigned streetlights in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles in an effort to provide an environmentally conscious solution to the high crime rates in the area. The streetlights would utilize solar panels to generate and store electricity to be used by the lights. These streetlights would not only lower crime rates by creating better community infrastructure but would save civilians millions of dollars over the life span of the product in the form of lowered insurance costs and maintenance costs. Through extensive cost analysis and technical research, we found tangible evidence of the benefits which come from the implementation of these lights. Reaching out to city government and stakeholders directly would ensure these lights are installed correctly in areas that need them. Ideally, the introduction of these lights would begin a slow change in the culture of these neighborhoods, inevitably leaving a lasting positive impact on the lives of the stakeholders.