Before submitting to DOB, we needed to determine the structural engineering characteristics of the soil at the site. The investigation revealed that the area “ as dense soil and rubble fill, underlain by a very dense silty sand with traces of gravel rock fragments and cobble…The site was determined to support a foundation loads of 4 tons per square foot”
That’s good news!
Students Building a hydroponic lab to grow strawberries this winter! This will be installed in our Energy-Environment Research Center project, which we hope to break ground on this school year!
Calibrating our weir to better understand water retention rates on our green roof, with Columbia University graduate students!
Took a group of aspiring engineers to visit my Alma Mater, Columbia’s engineering labs last week. Here’s a video of Columbia’s Civil Engineering lab crushing a cinder block with 390,000 lbs of force!
Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation / Bronx Borough President’s Office coordinated Green Roof Tour, as part of “Bronx Week”. Bronx Design & Construction Academy was one of four green roofs visited!
Gravitational Waves detected! Nice work LIGO! Here’s a NYT article and here’s an informative video.
This news came out the day before I taught gravitational field theory to my 12th grade physics class (gravitational waves are just propagating oscillations of a gravitational field). Exciting!
Check out this drip irrigation system we created using a soaker hose and single dial timer. The plants get watered automatically every other evening!
As winners of the 2014 Zayed Future Energy Prize BDCA was invited to the annual Sustainable Energy for All Forum (SE4ALL) at the United Nations. We attended a ceremony in the UN General Assembly Hall, and received this attached letter from the chief executive officer of the event!
BDCA’s Sustainability Committee has teamed up with New York Restoration Project and Million Trees NYC! Sadly, this is because 27 street trees have died (many more are not in good health) surrounding our school; On a happy note, NY Restoration Project is working with our students to re-plant 27 street trees around our school community (red, blue, grey, and yellow dots below)! 
Honored to be featured on the cover of my Alma Mater’s magazine, along with two other amazing educators. Here’s the Linfield Magazine article!
Excited to be a participant in the webinar “Growing Schoolyard STEM Projects!” See below to learn more,
Update! Our Zayed Energy-Environment Research Center (E2RC) is currently in the Department of Buildings permitting stage, but we have confidence the greenhouse (powered by a 1kW wind turbine and .5kW solar photovoltaic array system) will break ground next school year. Here’s a short video showing our current design, and here’s a more detailed project description.
What an amazing conference! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about other Green Schools’ sustainability efforts at the Green Schools National Conference this week!
Last year BDCA students won a prestigious international prize for their Energy Environment Research Center (E2RC) design. This year, 11th and 12th grade architectural students refine the design using AutoCAD. Congratulations to Justine, Joande, and Noel! These winning designs will be showcased at the World Future Energy Summit during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week this January, and will also be used to guide our construction in the spring. 
Designs were evaluated on the below categories:
Total scores were weighed as such:
Project Timeline:
Note: the wind turbine created in these drawings will actually be a vertical axis wind turbine (like this one in Long Island City), not horizontal as depicted in these drawings. Vertical axis turbines are powered by wind coming from all 360 degrees. Because of this versatility, vertical axis wind turbines are ideal for installations where wind conditions are not consistent, such as in urban settings.
Zayed Future Energy Environment Research Center:
Here’s an updated CrowdMap, created through the participation of Bronx Design & Construction Academy students in Sustainable South Bronx’s AirCasting program! Students will collect more data on particulate matter / pollution in our community, and analyze it in the coming weeks. This data will be used to help students advocate for environment justice in our community through outreach to community organizations and community boards.
Check out this map create by Bronx Design & Construction Academy students through their participation in Sustainable South Bronx’s AirCasting program!
Architectural Drafting Students at Bronx Design & Construction Academy kick started our Energy Environment Research Center project by surveying the construction site today! Here’s our timeline for the project:
Every year the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognize outstanding kindergarten through grade 12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awards the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators to nationally honor, support and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms & teaching methods.
DivvySolar, a solar photovoltaic crowd funding platform, recently helped us fundraise to turn our pilot study into a full scale study to further prove that solar panels and green roofs can co-exist on the same roof and actually perform better together! Thanks for everyone’s support!
Check out this cool Divvy Project, helping Eagle Slope Solar Farm in the South Bronx go solar! http://divvysolar.com/projects/eagle-slope-solar-farm/
Bronx 12 did a story on Zayed Future Energy Prize and goal to build an Energy-Environment Research Center! Check it out here:
http://bronx.news12.com/news/bronx-design-and-construction-academy-in-melrose-wins-100-000-zyed-future-energy-prize-1.6893107
X552 (Bronx Design & Construction Academy), PS41 (Greenwich School) and MS442 (New Horizons) have teamed up! All three schools actively use green roofs into their curriculum; we represent an elementary school, middle school and high school. Our goal? To create a K-12 Green Roof Curriculum Guide!
We want to create a Guide that offers lessons connecting green roofs with NYC Education, Common Core, and STEM Standards. We just need funding to make this happen!
Watch our video and consider supporting us at Indiegogo!
Thanks!
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.MrWight.wordpress.com
Winner of the ZFEP for the America Region!
Bronx Design & Construction Academy was recently named the winner of the Zayed Future Energy Prize for the Americas (South, Central, North) region! We were 1 of 5 high schools around the world awarded this prestigious $100,000 prize. We’ll use the funding to build an Energy-Environment Research Center (E2RC) in front of our school! If interested, follow us on our blog (you can subscribe to receive emails), or via twitter.
Here we are in the regional news:
Energy-Environment Research Center (E2RC)!
Bronx Design & Construction Academy students will build and maintain our Energy-Environment Research Center (E2RC), and ensure this showcase of cutting-edge renewable energy systems is accessible at street-level for students, community members, and all of New York City to learn from. E2RC will help our future energy leaders of tomorrow identify and implement holistic, sustainable solutions to address local, national, and global environmental issues.
Woke up this morning pretty early preparing for the day. Today the finalist of The Zayed Future Energy Prize will be attending a press conference. After the press conference we’ll go to Shams1, one of the world’s largest Concentrated Solar Power plant (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shams_solar_power_station). shams1 has an annual production of 210 GWh!!
-Ray Figueroa
BDCA was featured in two large regional newspapers today! Ray’s standing next to the prince of Abu Dhabi in the below photo!
ZFEP Awards ceremony: Ray hanging with the president of Iceland and Mohammed Bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi!
There’s a two-pound 24 carrot gold “ZFEP Winner” piece attached to the award certificate … this still hasn’t fully hit us!
After taking part in a very formal press conference, we had an amazing dinner in the Emirates Palace Hotel. I noticed after taking a bite of the caramel flan cheesecake that there were gold flakes sprinkled on top (look closely)!!
Hanging at the Emirates Palace, eating gold, no biggie …
We arrived the Emirates Palace around 7:06pm and met a handful of incredible business men/women. I gave them my E2RC card before the ceremony started.
The ceremony was incredible. After hearing “and the winner is…” … “Bronx Design & Construction Academy” I felt a rush go through my chest, it was insane! I then walked up to the stage and was handed the prize from Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces. We spoke for a while on stage; everyone asked me what he said, but I can’t recall any of it!
-Ray Figueroa
Busy day! I participated in a student panel at the opening ceremony at The Abu Dhabi Exposition Center. I also got a pretty cool tour of Masdar Institute, the most sustainable place in Abu Dhabi.
We JUST arrived at the Palace where the Zayed Future Energy Prize ceremony will take place in 1 hr. You could feel the tension through the roof! Tonight the winners are going to be announced. WISH US LUCK!!!
-Ray Figueroa
I caught a few ZZZs, still a bit Jet-lagged, but I’m super excited about today! Today IS the day!
We got up and promptly jumped on a bus to head to the opening ceremonies of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability week (http://www.abudhabisustainabilityweek.com), as part of the The Zayed Future Energy Prize.
Today is the day that winners of The Zayed Future Energy Prize are announced. But first I’m going to participate in a student panel discussion about “How to get Sustainability to matter to Youth” with 9 other High school students from around the world.
-Ray Figueroa
10th grade student
First day in Abu Dhabi and it was a hectic! I accidentally swapped luggages with someone at the airport and spent too many Dirhams traveling to the Dubai airport and then back to Abu Dhabi. Luckily, we were still able to make the rehearsal dinner at the video!). I also met 9 other high school students who, like me, were given the opportunity to travel here as finalists in the The Zayed Future Energy Prize.
Wish us luck tomorrow in the award ceremonies, we’ll need it!!
-Ray Figueroa
We’re finalists (top 3 in all of the Americas) at Bronx Design & Construction Academy for a $100,000 Zayed Future Energy Prize. As finalists, we’re traveling to Abu Dhabi this week to participate in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the ZFEP awards ceremony. If we win, we aim to build an Energy-Environment Research Center in front of our school!
If interested, you can follow us on our blog. We’ll be posting updates, so keep an eye on us! www.E2RC.wordpress.com/posts
You can follow us on twitter too! www.twitter.com/BXDCA
Wish us luck, it’s a long shot!
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.MrWight.wordpress.com
BDCA students recently used old copy paper boxes to design and make their own recycling bin. We’re advertising it at school, which will lead to the next step: teachers and students using our design to customize their own for their class! We’ve already had a lot of interest!
Bronx Design & Construction Academy is excited to announce that we’re Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) finalists, for the second year in a row! As one of 3 schools representing the Americas, we’ll compete for $100,000 in Abu Dhabi this January. If we win, we’ll use funding to build an Energy-Environment Research Center in front of our school with a 3.5kW wind turbine and 3kW solar photovoltaic array. Watch this video and see the below picture to learn more.
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.MrWight.wordpress.com
The City College of NY (CCNY) has launched a crowd-funding campaign to install the Solar Roofpod on the roof of the Spitzer School of Architecture. The Solar Roofpod will become the Center for Sustainable Projects, enhancing interdisciplinary work between professionals and academic departments, and as an outreach tool for the community, providing tours to school groups, neighborhood associations and the greater New York community.
Check out the crowd-funding campaign here! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bring-back-the-roofpod-to-ccny
Our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project was recently fully funded through Divvy Solar‘s solar panel crowd funding platform! Thanks to everyone who made this a reality! We’ll keep you updated on our progress!
Thanks Steve and Marc from GLUCK+ Architecture for giving Bronx Design and Construction Academy architectural and carpentry students a tour of STACKS, the first modular, prefabricated building in NYC!
Solar Journey USA donated 24 95-Watt Solar Panels to our school! We’re going to use them in our Career & Technical Education classes! Thanks Rob and Garrett!
Students surveying our green roof, identifying plants, and collecting seeds. Urban ecology minutes from the classroom!
Consider supporting solar panel crowd funding at Bronx Design & Construction Academy! Click here to see our project page and watch this video to learn more about our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy research. You can easily do this by logging in either here using social media or here using Divvy Solar. Note: nothing will be charged unless we reach our goal.
If interested in crowd funding solar panels for a school you know, check out Divvy Solar!
Support solar panel crowd funding at BDCA!
Click here to see our project page and watch this video to learn more about Bronx Design & Construction Academy‘s student involvement with our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project.
Support us by purchasing a square on our attached rooftop image. You can easily do this by logging in either here using social media or here using Divvy Solar. Note: nothing will be charged unless we reach our goal.
Support solar panel crowd funding at BDCA!
Click here to see our project page and watch this video to learn more about Bronx Design & Construction Academy‘s student involvement with our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project.
Support us by purchasing a square on our attached rooftop image. You can easily do this by logging in either here using social media or here using Divvy Solar. Note: nothing will be charged unless we reach our goal.
Support solar panel crowd funding at BDCA!
Click here to see our project page and watch this video to learn more about Bronx Design & Construction Academy‘s student involvement with our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project.
Support us by purchasing a square on our attached rooftop image. You can easily do this by logging in either here using social media or here using Divvy Solar. Note: nothing will be charged unless we reach our goal.
Click here to support DivvySolar‘s first fundraising campaign at Bronx Design & Construction Academy! Watch this video to learn more about BDCA and our project. If 1000 people donate $10 each we’ll have more than enough!
If you’re in the NYC area and want to support BDCA and/or learn how you can crowd fund solar panels come to Divvy’s Kickoff event Tuesday September 10th, 6-9pm at Solar1‘s East River location. If you haven’t already, please RSVP. Hope to see you there!
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
www.MrWight.wordpress.com
Divvy enables the development of community clean energy projects through crowdfunding to provide sustainable social, environmental, and financial impacts. Community organizations—schools, religious institutions, local businesses, etc.—use the online platform to reach their local members as well as to connect with the global renewable energy community. Divvy oversees the project’s fundraising campaign, integrating with social media to push projects to funding completion. The community organization provides the Funders with rewards ranging from sentimental student artwork to coupons and discounts for their contributions. After the funding process is completed, the organization receives the solar system at no cost and stays connected with the Funders through the Divvy platform, while enjoying financial and environmental benefits over the system’s lifetime (>30 years). Divvy’s pilot project is a stand-alone, experimental solar system at the Bronx Design and Construction Academy for investigating the synergies between solar and green roofs. The Divvy platform is launching with this project on August 28th, when it will be opened up for other project initiators as well. Among other project leads, a grid-tied solar system at Middle School 88 (MS88) in Brooklyn is under review by school staff and Department of Education contacts.
DivvySolar (divvysolar.com) recently launched the beginning of an exciting new era of crowdsourcing solar panels! Their first project is at Bronx Design & Construction Academy to help turn our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy (http://gripv.wordpress.com) pilot project into a full scale GRiPVc study on our school’s roof.
Support our project here! http://divvysolar.com/projects/BDCA_solar/
In the News:
Learn More:
Divvy enables the development of community clean energy projects through crowdfunding to provide sustainable social, environmental, and financial impacts. Community organizations—schools, religious institutions, local businesses, etc.—use the online platform to reach their local members as well as to connect with the global renewable energy community. Divvy oversees the project’s fundraising campaign, integrating with social media to push projects to funding completion. The community organization provides the Funders with rewards ranging from sentimental student artwork to coupons and discounts for their contributions. After the funding process is completed, the organization receives the solar system at no cost and stays connected with the Funders through the Divvy platform, while enjoying financial and environmental benefits over the system’s lifetime (>30 years). Divvy’s pilot project is a stand-alone, experimental solar system at the Bronx Design and Construction Academy for investigating the synergies between solar and green roofs. The Divvy platform is launching with this project on August 28th, when it will be opened up for other project initiators as well. Among other project leads, a grid-tied solar system at Middle School 88 (MS88) in Brooklyn is under review by school staff and Department of Education contacts.”
See below info and attached flyer. RSVP here!
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.MrWight.wordpress.com
Divvy enables the development of community clean energy projects through crowdfunding to provide sustainable social, environmental, and financial impacts. Community organizations—schools, religious institutions, local businesses, etc.—use the online platform to reach their local members as well as to connect with the global renewable energy community. Divvy oversees the project’s fundraising campaign, integrating with social media to push projects to funding completion. The community organization provides the Funders with rewards ranging from sentimental student artwork to coupons and discounts for their contributions. After the funding process is completed, the organization receives the solar system at no cost and stays connected with the Funders through the Divvy platform, while enjoying financial and environmental benefits over the system’s lifetime (>30 years). Divvy’s pilot project is a stand-alone, experimental solar system at the Bronx Design and Construction Academy for investigating the synergies between solar and green roofs. The Divvy platform is launching with this project on August 28th, when it will be opened up for other project initiators as well. Among other project leads, a grid-tied solar system at Middle School 88 (MS88) in Brooklyn is under review by school staff and Department of Education contacts.
Swiss pilots and inventors Bertrand Piccard (you may remember him – he broke a record by completing a non stop balloon flight around the world) recenlty made history by flying Solar Impulse day and night cross the USA exclusively with solar power!
I had the opportunity to see this remarkable piece of engineering at JFK airport, and speak to some of the engineers. Solar Impulse used over 12,000 mono crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and 4 large lithium polymer batteries (combined weighted more than ¼ of the total mass of the plane). They broke the following world records!
Towards the end of the school year a neighboring Elementary school took a field trip to visit our green roof. Here’s one of the many thank you cards we received from the students, and here’s a video of one of our students releasing a dragonfly that he caught on the green roof.
I just got back from West Virginia as a faculty fellow for the Student Climate & Conservation Congress at the US Fish and Wildlife’s National Conservation Training Center. Two of my BDCA students attended this 7 day environmental camp as well. Words can’t explain how special this week was, but I’ll give it a try:
The comedian Pete Dominic opened up the the week with a hilarious act that weaved together comedy and environmentalism. We also heard from Carl Safina (talked of as the “next Rachel Carson”), received an inspirational talk from Juan Martinez about urban gardening, learned how National Geographic photographer Joe Riis followed and documented the pronghorn migration in Wyoming using trip cameras, heard from Steven Guertin (Deputy Director for the US Fish and Wildlife Services), heard BlueGrass music from Travis Book, received a massive amount of ideas and knowledge from Rob Watson (“Father of LEED” certification) and Mitch Joachim (check out his TED talk), and were inspired by the lepidopterist and acclaimed author Robert Michael Pyle.
Students participated in service learning projects about trail restoration and removal of native species, identified native bees, worked in the NCTC labs, did a 10 mile kayak trip down Potomac river, participated in Open Space Technology learning, and received a beautiful ceremony from a Navajo Nation elder around a campfire.
My group of students created a website, RACE Green, and linked it to a Facebook page as a way to help promote positive conservation change in their communities. They also wrote and performed a recycling song (here‘s an audio clip of students practicing).
On the last night, a majority of students spoke emotionally and passionately about how SC3 affected them; it was a life changing experience for all. SC3 is a first class environmental camp run by an amazing group of dedicated educators and professionals.
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.MrWight.wordpress.com
Student first-draft plans to build a comprehensive Energy Environment Research Center (E2RC) in front of our school!
Soundscapes Ecology on our Green Roof! Click here to listen! Seems like we have several house sparrow and possibly a Tufted Titmouse, fairly common bird in city parks and gardens.
Changing the World to Green: In Offices and Homes
– Sam Marquit, blogger Fair Marquit Value
One of the biggest trends that contractors have seen this year is renovation for homes and offices to go green. People are choosing solar power, recycling centers, water saving techniques and natural light sources to reduce their carbon footprints. As more technology becomes available, there will be even more ways for people to save the Earth’s resources and really start making a difference on the percentage of greenhouse gases occurring each year. The green materials industry grew to $116 billion just this year. It’s projected to increase to $254 billion in 2020. However, we won’t get to this number unless more people start to change.
Water is one of the depleting resources around the globe. Many communities have to walk miles just to get a gallon of water every day. This is the same water that they will use for cooking and bathing. While it’s scary to think that this is happening, it’s even worse to consider that it can happen anywhere in the future if we don’t start taking charge of water waste. There are some businesses doing their part to save water every year. For example, the Las Vegas Palazzo Hotel and Resort is one of the most luxurious hotels in the desert oasis in Nevada. There’s a strange idea that businesses and homeowners can’t still live comfortably by choosing a green lifestyle. It’s quite the opposite. The Palazzo utilizes a drip irrigation system with moisture sensors to save water every day. The hotel also installed artificial turf grass so that some parts of the outdoor areas don’t need watering at all. Because of its green practices, the Palazzo was recently named the most eco friendly hotel in America.
Homeowners have started to switch to drip irrigation systems for their lawns and gardens. It’s better for areas with little rain and high drought, but it’s also a good idea for any homeowner that currently uses a sprinkler system. In addition, you can reuse gray water, which comes from washer machines and showers to water lawns and gardens.
The three R’s play a prominent role in the green movement. The phrase grew in popularity in the 1990s and continues to be a big mantra for people trying to go green at home or in the office. A major part of this statement is recycling. Most homes have recycling bins, but it wasn’t until recently that businesses also started to create large sorting centers to reduce their own waste. For example, the ARIA Hotel in Las Vegas created a recycling center that cut out 47 percent of waste from going to the landfill. The hotel also sends food scraps to local pig farms. Another trend that is gaining popularity is “up cycling”. People are finding new uses for old and worn out items instead of throwing them away.
It is important that businesses and homeowners continue to innovate the industry. With this innovation, new and more efficient products will be coming to market.
Last January we attended Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week at the annual World Future Energy Summit in the United Arab Emirates. Here’s a video highlighting all of the Global High Schools (We took 2nd place for all of the Americas!)
Going to the American Solar Energy Society was a blast. We learned all about new forms of renewable energy. And we also learned different ways of making energy, such as new ways of making thermal energy. We learned a lot, and we also presented, which was very good. We were very nervous, but we got through it. And we were apparently good, even though we messed up a few times. We went to Marc Perez’s Dads’ part, Though we were exhausted, we were astounded on the debate after his part between 2 or so people. They were talking about selling leftover energy that is not being used for a higher amount. In all, the experience was amazing, we learned a lot, and met new people. It was a great experience.
– Michael Pagan
This trip was very inspirational. We learned a lot about renewable energy. The best part was when we answered questions for the audience. I learned about sketchup which is a program that you can use to make 3d designs.
– Verick White
Eco-Schools USA is hosting a Sustainability Coordinator Gathering at BDCA!
Earlier this month Bronx Design & Construction Academy Energy-Environment Research Club students submitted a research paper about our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project. As a result, we were invited to compete in the preliminary rounds of the New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) against 550 projects from a select group of high schools. BDCA was then rated in the top 20% of the preliminary rounds and invited to complete in the NYCSEF final round in the Museum of Natural History against the top science research projects in New York City.
In the final round BDCA received a 3rd place category prize and was recognized with two special awards: US Army Excellence in Science & Engineering and The Ricoh Americas Corporation Sustainable Development Award!
Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Thanks Nathan Pace for highlighting our efforts in this recent Mott Haven Herald article “High Schoolers Harness Sun’s Power“!
We were recently highlighted in Solar1’s newsletter!
Bronx Design & Construction Academy Energy-Environment Research Club students recently competed in the annual New York City Science and Engineering Fair. We competed against 550 projects from a select group of high schools (including Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, Bx Science) – and we made it to the final round! We were rated in the top 20% and will now compete in the final round on Tuesday, March 19th in the Museum of Natural History. Students that make it to the top 20% of the final round will receive a $5000 scholarship and an all expense paid trip to Phoenix, Arizona to compete for more than $4,000,000 in scholarships and awards at Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair. See last year’s ISEF Highlights here. Wish us luck!
Andrew Revkin, a science and environmental writer for the Dot Earth environmental blog on The Times’ Opinion Pages, recently wrote an article titled “Schools, and Syllabuses, Designed With the Environment in Mind” highlighting our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project at Bronx Design & Construction Academy! This was part of a larger article about the Green School Alliance Network.
Here’s a video featuring our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project at Bronx Design & Construction Academy. This was shown during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week at the annual World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
We took 2nd Place! https://vimeo.com/58508578
Two students at Bronx Design & Construction Academy, myself, and an English teacher wrote and submitted a $100,000 grant through the Zayed Future Energy Prize last July. We made it to the finals and are currently in the top 2 for all of the americas region! Click here to see a list/description of the finalists.
As finalists, we were invited to Abu Dhabi to present our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project at the annual World Future Energy Summit (ADSW) during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
The winners of the Zayed Future Energy Prize will be announced at the Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013. See below email!
Nathaniel Thayer Wight | Ecology Teacher
Bronx Design & Construction Academy (x522)
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com
On behalf of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, I would like to formally congratulate Bronx Design & Construction Academy on being one of our 2013 finalists. As you know, the $4 million prize was created to honour the legacy of the Founding Father and first President of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and aims to inspire the current and next generation of global energy innovators to create solutions for the future.
We would be delighted if your esteemed high school could have a presence at the Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner, taking place on the evening of the 15th January 2013 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Every year, the Prize takes place alongside the World Future Energy Summit (WFES). We are proud to announce that this year the Prize will be prominently featured at its own exhibition stand which we aim to use as a platform to host presentations, panel discussions and more. WFES, hosted by Masdar, has established itself as the world’s foremost annual gathering in the renewable energy and sustainable technologies industry. Keynote speakers at the Summit have included heads of state and world leaders.
In addition to the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the World Future Energy Summit, ADSW will include the 1st International Water Summit and the Abu Dhabi International Renewable Energy Conference. The Opening Ceremony of ADSW will take place on the morning of the 15th of January. We would be honoured if the three guests could also attend this event.
Zayed Future Energy Prize
www.ZayedFutureEnergyPrize.com
Engineering Exploration Experience
Hosted by Columbia University and New York Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
Engineering Exploration Experience (E3) is an event for high school girls in grades nine to eleven to learn about engineering through hands on activities. All schools and programs are encouraged to participate!
Applications ares due March 1st!
When is it? Saturday, March 31st, 2012
Time? 9:30am – 4:30pm
Where is it being held? Columbia University / Lerner Hall / 2920 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019
Who is invited? 50 ninth to eleventh grade girls. Registration will be open until March 1st, 2012
Cost? $10.00 per student. Requests for a fee waiver can be initiated by emailing CU.SWE.Outreach
Engineering Exploration Experience
Hosted by Columbia University and New York Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
Engineering Exploration Experience (E3) is an event for high school girls in grades nine to eleven to learn about engineering through hands on activities. All schools and programs are encouraged to participate!
Applications ares due March 1st!
When is it? Saturday, March 31st, 2012
Time? 9:30am – 4:30pm
Where is it being held? Columbia University / Lerner Hall / 2920 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019
Who is invited? 50 ninth to eleventh grade girls. Registration will be open until March 1st, 2012
Cost? $10.00 per student. Requests for a fee waiver can be initiated by emailing CU.SWE.Outreach
ROOTS (Restoration of the Outdoors Organized by Teen Students) is a program for teenagers where you use Central Park as an outdoor classroom. The Central Park Conservancy’s Youth Education & Service programs provide groups and individual youth with hands-on opportunities to learn about Central Park and help preserve and maintain its landscapes. Through activities that are both educational and fun, students develop a sense of stewardship for Central Park and other natural environments.
Applications are due February 15th!
If interested see attached applications. If interested in the Spring Visitor Center Internship contact youth for an application.
Mr. Wight | EcologyBronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com
See below opportunity to apply for the “Young Eco-Hero”
Mr. Wight | EcologyBronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com
http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero-awards
Are you a Young Eco-Hero? Do you know a Young Eco-Hero?
Want the world to know what you’ve done?
Have you been working to preserve the world around you? Have you been teaching others how to protect the environment? Have you been doing an environmental research project? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then you are a Young Eco-Hero. All Eco-Heroes serve as role models, showing others that individuals are important and can make a difference.
Action For Nature is proud to honor the work of young people between the ages of 8 and 16 who have done creative environmental projects. The winners of AFN’s International Young Eco-Hero Awards program receive a cash prize and a special certificate, as well as public recognition on our website and elsewhere.
Our judges are experts in environmental science, biology and environmental health. They select our Young Eco-Heroes from applicants from around the world. They are looking for young people to follow in their footsteps.
We are proud of all of our winners, and of all the applicants from around the world.
This is a great chance for you to share your environmental activism and creative work. We look forward to again supporting young people from all around the world working to save our planet. Please read the guidelines to see if you are eligible to apply to become a Young Eco-Hero. ______________________
Judging Criteria
The applications will be judged according to several criteria, including but not limited to:
originality
difficulty
organization
length of time devoted to the project
influencing/educating others
use of outside resources (e.g. library, experts, media, community leaders)
degree of success in reaching goals
the impact on the environment.
Application Requirements
The project concerns environmental health, advocacy, research or protection of the natural world.
The project is action-based and self-initiated, and not one assigned by a teacher or other adult.
The project is close to completion or was completed within the last year.
Applicants must be between the ages of 8 and 16 on January 15, 2012.
Science Fair and Scouting Badge projects will only be considered if they include environmental action, educational outreach to others or extended studies beyond the Science Fair.
We do not accept (a) projects related to domestic or confined animals, (b) compositions or reports.
Prizes
Winners will receive public recognition, cash prizes and certificates for their outstanding efforts to help protect and preserve the environment. Just as importantly, winners will serve as role models for other young people by demonstrating that each individual can make a difference.
If interested in job training for a career in the green industry, see below. Here’s a contact email and phone:Greenjobtrainingnyc
212-854-4500
________________
GreenNet is a FREE job training and certification course which aims to
help low-income out-of-school youth attain careers in the Green
Industry. The green field is growing rapidly and now is the time to
pursue a career offering job stability, choice and competitive wages.
GreenNet is run through Columbia University’s Community Impact and
provides technical training by Solar One. GreenNet prepares students
to gain their BPI Building Analyst Certification which focuses on
achieving residential energy efficiency and prepares students to
become energy auditors and installation specialists. These
professional jobs allow students to reduce energy usage in a home
while monitoring health and safety measures.
As a part of this six-week training session, students also receive an
in-depth introduction electrical, plumbing and carpentry skills while
learning about current environmental demands and standards in green
building and maintenance.
Experts predict jobs in the green sector to grow nearly 28% in the
near future – don’t miss out!
What to expect: • Classes focused on environmental and energy-related
topics, basics of building science, insulation and weatherization •
Work readiness skills and guidance in updating a resume, writing cover
letters, interview preparation and workplace conduct • Technical
training session conducted at on site facilities using actual
materials in a simulated work environment. • Certifications for Green
Maintenance and Energy Auditing. • Real world experience afforded
through internships, volunteering opportunities, field work and job
placement! • One on one counseling: building or updating a resume,
writing cover letters, job search help and interview preparation •
National Work Readiness training: a certification program that shows
employers you have the skills to be successful in the workplace GED
and College prep
Incentives: • $100 incentives are awarded upon completion of
certification. • Unlimited weekly Metrocards and lunches provided
throughout teaching and training! • Stipends for Internships
Qualifying youth must meet the following requirements: • Be 18- 21
years of age and qualify as low-income • Be out of school, out of work
or in transition • Have or be working towards 10th grade math skills •
Be committed to getting a job, earning a GED or going to college •
Complete the intake paperwork and screening
More / LessHow to apply
Please send us a message at Greenjobtrainingnyc or call us
at 212-854-4500 to let us know that you are interested.
Mr. Wight | EcologyBronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com
Subject: Scholarships available for students and teachers to attend NOFA-NY conference…
Reply-To: Angela McGregor Hedstrom <acm237>
Hello,
Please see below for scholarship information (teachers and students) to attend Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York’s (NOFA-NY) winter conference. Please direct specific questions to Michelle Podolec (contact info below). More information can also be found here: http://nebeginningfarmers.org/blog/2011/11/nofa-ny-offering-scholarships-to-annual-nofa-ny-organic-farming-education-conference/
Best,
Angela
Angela McGregor Hedstrom
New York Agriculture in the Classroom
Department of Horticulture
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-9253
NYAITC
NOFA-NY Beginning Farmer Teacher Student Scholarships Available- NEWS RELEASE.docx
paper student_teacher scholarship form 2012 conference.docx
See below scholarship opportunity to attend the NOFA-NY Conference. Let me know if you’re interested,
About NOFA-NY
NOFA-NY was founded in 1983, and has grown steadily along with the growth of organic farms in New York state. NOFA NY, Inc is an organization of consumers, gardeners, and farmers working together to create a sustainable regional food system which is ecologically sound and economically viable. Through demonstration and educational opportunities, we promote land stewardship, organic food production, and local marketing. NOFA NY brings consumers and farmers closer together to make high quality food available to all people.
Mr. Wight | EcologyBronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com
Subject: Scholarship opportunity for students and teachers to attend NOFA-NY conference…
Greetings,
Please share this great opportunity with your networks. For students age 10-18 and teachers. Applications and press release attached. Also available online:
From the Beginning Farmer Project:
The Beginning Farmer Project is offering scholarships for teachers and students to attend the NOFA NY Winter Conference in January of 2012. The conference is a lot of fun, and we will be hosting a teacher/student/farmer networking lunch that Saturday so everyone will have a chance to mingle, eat great food, and meet other young folks and educators who are passionate about farming.
Thanks,
Angela
Angela McGregor Hedstrom
New York Agriculture in the Classroom
Department of Horticulture
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-9253
NOFA-NY Beginning Farmer Teacher Student Scholarships Available- NEWS RELEASE.docx
http://bronxink.org/2010/11/04/9306-the-green-roof-that-keeps-on-giving/
A small group of alumni and current students from Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical High School in the South Bronx came to school on a Saturday two weeks ago to watch as hundreds of trays of green sedum were loaded onto a low roof of the school.
The event marked the completion of the first city-approved green roof project at a public school in New York City. It is meant to teach students at the vocational school a hands-on approach to building an eco-friendly environment, while also providing cheaper, cleaner environments for Smith.
“It’s really exciting,” said Melany Javier, 17, a 2010 graduate from the architecture program who was valedictorian of her class and member of the Science Club. “This became our baby and it’s finally being born.”
In the blustery wind, for nine hours on Oct. 16, The Green Roof team from Sustainable South Bronx, the local environmental nonprofit that is managing the project, laid 1,400 square feet of sedum, a type of cactus known for absorbing water and reflecting sunlight. Sedum acts as a natural insulator, keeping roofs up to 32 percent cooler in the summer and retaining heat in the winter, and saving up to 30 percent on energy costs, said Smith’s science teacher Nathaniel Wight.
Just hours into the installation, a giddy Wight picked an insect off his shirt he had never seen before, proof that a new eco-system has been created.
The project is not just meant to add a touch of color to the otherwise pebbled roof; it will be the focus of a rich curriculum aimed at helping students apply their skills and knowledge to a sustainable project.
The Smith students’ work can be traced back three years ago with their school’s building trades program. The carpentry classes began building wooden planters for students to grow fruits and vegetables from their native countries. That project will begin to bear fruit as part of a fresh food initiative in the spring. Architecture students laid out potential designs of the space, and science students studied the eco- system it would create.
“It’s like a real life engineering problem,” Wight said while directing alumni and current students there to help out. “It’s hard enough to make it something you can use in the classroom, but not so difficult that you need calculus and stuff.”
The City Gardens Club and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation funded the $40,000 project, and Sustainable South Bronx will stay on in a support role for the next two years as everything develops.
The green roof completed. Photo provided by Nathaniel Wight
The arrival of the sedum was the first step of many, and the green roof is expected to provide an ongoing platform for learning. Smith students will pitch in to plan and build a rain water harvesting system. Art students will work out initial design issues, math students will calculate the boundaries and figure out how much rainwater will need to be captured, and drafting students will use computer programs to create blueprints.
Before next spring, plumbing students will implement the design and build the rain water harvesting system that will sustain the sedum and vegetables being grown. Students will learn how to compost, and then the compost from school cafeteria leftovers will fertilize the garden. The fresh produce from the harvest will be used to prepare healthier school lunches.
The green roof project serves as a bright spot for a school very much in flux. Smith’s building trade programs are in the process of being phased out by the Department of Education, causing uncertainty. The city said it plans to replace those programs with another building trade program, but the final decision will not be known until next January.
In the meantime, Wight and other teachers will continue to use the roof to educate the students of Smith about ecological sustainability, conservation, and healthy eating.
Two weeks later, the students were back on the roof planting garlic bulbs.
“Green roofs are the wave of the future,” said Colleen Lott, project foreman from Sustainable South Bronx who lives nearby Smith. “And to have a live roof on the top of a school in the South Bronx is exciting.”
http://motthavenherald.com/2010/11/02/living-roof-installed-on-mott-haven-high-school/
Alfred E. Smith is first school in city topped by plantings
The new roof on Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School is for the birds. And the bees and butterflies.
The roof, delivered by truck on Oct. 16, is made up of several rows of black planters, filled with a few inches of soil from which low-
growing plants sprout. The school has added a raised beds, which will be used to grow vegetables.
Environmentalists see such “green roofs” as a new tool to combat pollution and save energy. The installation on a portion of the Mott Haven high school makes Alfred E. Smith the first public school in the city to have one.
The roof was a joint project between the school and Sustainable South Bronx, the Hunts Point-based environmental organization, which installed the roof and secured the $45,000 it cost from the City Gardens Club of New York City and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
“To see it all come together, it’s just an incredible experience to everybody that has been working on it,” said Mary Linn Hernandez, a senior. She said she was glad she got to see it while she was still a student, noting that a lot of alumni had worked to bring the roof to the school but didn’t get to see it put in place.
Proponents of green roofs say they cut down a building’s heating and cooling costs; they improve air quality; they attract birds and helpful insescts; and they hold the potential to clean up streams and rivers.
The school has already begun to incorporate the roof into its curriculum. A carpentry class constructed the raised plant beds. Daniel Torres, a junior at the school who is studying plumbing, is working on creating an irrigation system, with the help of one of his teachers.
For the students who have chosen to specialize in architecture, home construction, plumbing, or heating and cooling ventilation, the roof comes just in time. Come 2014, those specializations will no longer be offered. Smith will limit its curriculum to automotive repair.
It took four years and much effort to bring the roof to Mott Haven. The saga began in 2006, when the City Gardens Club approached Sustainable South Bronx. The club was looking for a school that would be right for a green roof, said Miquela Craytor, Sustainable South Bronx’s executive director.
Not long after, Nathaniel Wight, the school’s speech pathologist and science club director, took his students to Sustainable South Bronx’s offices for a field trip.
Craytor told him that they had funds in hand and were looking for a school, Wright said.
According to Craytor, “It was very serendipitous. It seemed to happen at the right time.”
And Smith was the right place. Both institutions are located in the South Bronx. As a career and technical high school, the roof would provide a real-world application for its coursework.
However, getting the job done was far from easy. The School Construction Authority had to approve the project. But Sustainable South Bronx and the School faced a problem: how do you ask a government agency for permission to build something that has never been built before?
“When you confront people in the facilities office and the School Construction Authority and say ‘We’re going to do this’ they’re like, ‘No you’re not. What do you mean?’” Wight said.
Students explained how green roofs worked to construction authority engineers who visited the school, and urged them to approve the project, Melany Javier, who graduated from Smith in May, recalled.
Once the agency approved the roof, it took nine months of planning before it could be installed, said Michael Cluer, the project manager who oversaw the installation.
The roof will be maintained by Sustainable South Bronx’s job-training program, which equips adults with “green” construction skills. Students, too, will continue to have access to it.
A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of the Mott Haven Herald.
Leslie Adatto writes the blog Looking Up With Leslie. She visited our school, met Hector (one of the first students involved with our Green Roof at Smith Project), and blogged about the visit: http://lookingupwithleslie.com/
There’s a new epidemic in New York City. LOOK UP and you will see that it is all around us. It’s spreading into the most unlikely corners of the boroughs of our great city. Apparently it is more contagious than we thought. It’s the green roof epidemic, improving our city one roof at a time. Here’s an actual case study:
Early 2009: Hector Polanco, student at Smith Technical High School in the South Bronx, joins the Science Club run by teacher and earth and environmental engineer, Nate Wight. A field trip to see the green roof at School of the Future in Manhattan is a club activity. Hector catches the green roof bug and returns to the South Bronx.
Late 2009: Hector’s infection is so serious, it spreads to the rest of the science club. He must have a green roof at Smith. Sustainable South Bronx, a nonprofit organization with an environmental mission, is called in. The drafting students at Smith are called in. The carpentry students at Smith are called in. This infection is spreading across the student body and into the South Bronx neighborhood.
Later 2009: The 1,500 square foot Green Roof at Smitih (GRaS), phase I, is begun.
2010: GRaS, phase I, is completed. But the infection continues to rage and a weather station is added.
2011: Water harvesting is added on the adjacent roof elevation. The students design and build a small slanted “roof,” with grooves that direct rain water into three large containers. A small solar panel on this rain catching roof powers the pump that gets the rain from the barrels to the hoses used to water the green roof, resulting in less run off into the overtaxed NYC sewage system.
The Future: Plans are being formed to plant the adjacent roof elevation and make it green. Hector was accepted into a prestigious free training program at Best Academy where they have seven roof installation classes, including classes on installing green roofs and solar arrays.
The green roof bug is out of control with no end in sight! Predictions are that it will continue to spread across New York City until we have better air quality, less sewage overflow after heavy rain storms, better biodiversity, healthier locally grown food and happier residents who are working in the outdoors and fresh air on their roofs.
Students are working with Tyler Carson and Daniel Marasco (Ph.D students from Columbia Columbia University’s Department of Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics) to quantify water flow and retention on our green roof. We just installed the sensor and began logging data last week. Initial findings show that our green roof retained 82% of the 9mm of rainfall last Friday – a retention rate slightly higher than other roofs Tyler and Dan are monitoring around New York City!
Thanks to Zoe Willoughby and Lalo Molina of Zolo Production for capturing the depth of our green roof project!
Mr. Wight 