Phillips Brooks House Weatherization Project

요약) 지난 5월 2일, 50여명의 하버드 학생들이 캠퍼스 내 어느 건물의 에너지 효율을 개선하기 위해 펜 대신 실리콘건을 집어들었다. 이 프로젝트는 학생들이 학교측에 weatherization(단열재 등을 써서 건물을 추위로부터 보호하는 것)에 학생들이 참여할 수 있는 방법을 문의하면서 시작되었다. 결과는 1년이 지나봐야 알겠지만, 실험 결과는 훌륭하게 나왔다.



Credit: OFS

On May 2nd, more than 50 Harvard students took a break from studying for finals and picked up caulk guns to help improve the energy efficiency of the Phillips Brooks House in Harvard Yard. The Phillips Brook House Association, Environmental Action Committee, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Green Program, and Office for Sustainability partnered to organize a truly unique opportunity for Harvard students to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while learning how to weatherize a building. In aggregate, the projects are expected to save the University over 9 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gasses and $3,750 in utility costs annually. “Participants are now more knowledgeable about the potential to reduce energy in other buildings,” notes Andrea Trimble, Manager of the OFS Green Building Services, “Students not only learned about potential savings, but also understand how energy conservation measures are actually installed.”

PBH Weatherization from Jim Merchant on Vimeo.

The project was initiated when students from the Environmental Action Committee approached the Office for Sustainability and FAS Green Program asking if there was a way to involve students in a weatherization project similar to what is done by Cambridge Home Energy Efficiency Team (http://heetma.com/). The OFS team identified nearly 40 practical energy conservation measures for the Phillips Brooks House, which is a 12,800 square foot, 100 year old, brick building. Of these, they selected more than 20 that could be safely and effectively implemented with student labor. The OFS and student planning team began weekly meetings to organize the weatherization. On the day of the event, participants were organized into 7 teams, each led by an OFS staff member and a volunteer student leader. Projects included caulking storm windows, installing low-flow plumbing fixtures, replacing lamps with compact fluorescents or low-mercury super T8 linear fluorescents, sealing a chimney, installing door sweeps and door jambs, insulating steam pipes, adding smart power strips on computers and timers on water coolers, installing educational signage, and many others. While verification of the overall energy reduction may take a year to assess, the building was given a pre and post-project blower door test to quantify air leakage. The test showed nearly 1,800 fewer cubic feet of air coming into the building when under pressure after the project, which translates to nearly 180 square inches of gaps in the building envelope that were filled… truly excellent results.

The project’s success was thanks to the contributions of many stakeholders. The event was approved and funded by the FAS Office of Physical Resources and Planning. Experts from Harvard’s Facilities Maintenance Operations were on hand to help with replacing plumbing fixtures and insulating steam pipes. The Office of General Council helped with liability issues and Environmental Health and Safety helped address safety concerns. Audrey Schulman and Jason Taylor of Cambridge HEET provided logistical recommendations and donated their time to conduct the blower door tests. Lunch was purchased from Veggie Planet and all waste was composted by OFS staff. Reusable cups and glasses were provided by Harvard University Hospitality and Dining Services. The attached video was created by Jim Merchant of Pirates Lane Video (http://pirateslane.com/), who donated his time. The project went extremely well and attendees have provided lots of positive feedback. We look forward to organizing similar projects in the future.