The Problem: Heat
The Problem Statement: Classrooms on the Main Quad become overheated because of direct sunlight entering through multiple windows.
Hot rooms tend to make people feel suffocated, irritated, moody, stressed (link to raising cortisol levels as a stress response when exposed to hot conditions); there is a link to hot rooms and poor performance in high school students while taking a standardized test. (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/31/1190627995/heat-wave-brain-mood-anxiety#:~:text=Researchers found that as the,calm and relaxed%2C was lowered).
Current Solution: People in the Main Quad have taken to covering their windows with cardboard to block the sunlight and maintain a cooler room.
Flaws with Current Solution:
- unsightly
- distracts from original architectural design
- blocks natural light from entering, which:
- lower mood
- lower productivity
- lower vitamin D levels, which weakens immune system
- https://distance.physiology.med.ufl.edu/about/articles/physiology/what-are-the-effects-of-not-getting-enough-sunlight/#:~:text=Vitamin D plays an important,flu%2C cold or other infections.
- doesn’t actually cool the room (passive cooling): the central AC at the Main Quad is turn on but not to a very high level, just barely enough so that people aren’t feeling sick with the heat. the covers are just blocking the sun, but not activity contributing to the lowering of temperature in a way that people feel relief. This becomes cause for other appliances such as fans to come into play, ultimately using more energy to power these appliances and not being sustainable.
My Solutions (works in progress): Windows that are able to take in the heat and light energy and convert it into a usable form of renewable energy that will be used to power the AC in the Main Quad. (almost like a clear solar panel but without the bulk and unattractiveness of traditional solar panels)
Benefits of my solution:
- allows for sunlight to enter
- retains original aesthetics (bullets 1-2 on ‘Flaws with Current Solution’)
- Improves health (bullet 3 on ‘Flaws with Current Solution’)
- generates energy, which:
- actively work to lower temperatures in the room
- lower carbon footprint
- lower costs
- sustainable