The Seattle Times Newspapers In Education presents
The most successful design projects will be useful, feasible and desirable.
The demand for clean energy, the environmental impact of energy consumption and the need to transition to an economy based on alternatives to fossil fuels are tough issues that we all must address. What types of design innovations will be needed to take full advantage of new renewable energy sources? How will suburbs, towns and cities need to be redesigned to optimize fuel efficiency?
Imagine ways to transform design to create a more energy-efficient community. The future is in your hands!
In a few decades, you could pull your car into a fueling station where the energy options are as diverse as the menu items at your favorite restaurant. The car you’re driving might be rented on a street corner and returned after a few hours, like a movie from a video store. Heat radiating from streets and sidewalks could be captured and stored to power the homes in your neighborhood.
The leaves you rake in the fall could help fuel operations at your local recycling center.
This vision could become reality. The future is a blank canvas waiting for your design.
To launch your own design project, sit down and define what you want to achieve. Then do a little recon. Find out what’s already been done to meet your objective and what remains to be done. Become an expert in your area. What are the limitations of existing designs?
Try to develop ideas to address those issues.
• In 2007 the U.S. Green Building Council developed a new set of standards for “green” school construction, and the state of Washington requires new school construction to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) Silver standards. Demonstrate the design of a highly energy-efficient high school with a model and schematics.
• In addition to transportation and heating and cooling, refrigeration is a major energy user.
Design a more energy-efficient grocery/ convenience store, or product flow (series of steps from the manufacturer or supplier to the consumer) for a refrigerated consumer product.
• In Spokane, a sculpture of a goat “eats” trash, encouraging passersby to dispose of litter. In
Stockholm, a subway staircase is transformed into a giant piano keyboard, luring people to use the stairs instead of the escalator. How could you redesign a facility in your school to make energy-conscious behavior fun?
• Examine a facility in your community (escalator, lighting system, electronic sign, etc.) that requires energy to operate. What simple change could you make to its design to make it more energy efficient?
Think of your design project as a product, service or plan that you’re creating for another party: a family or business, for example. Ask yourself three questions:
1. How would your design innovations be useful to that party?
2. Would it be feasible to make your design innovations a reality? (If not, what steps would be needed to make them so?)
3. Would others find it desirable to use your design innovations? (Consider issues like cost, societal and individual expectations, and environmental factors — noise, odor, aesthetics, safety hazards, etc. — that might limit desirability.)
Finding a solution
Students from Camas High School in Camas,
Wash., designed a storm-water filter that uses microorganisms to break down nitrogenous pollutants into atmospheric nitrogen and remove excess nutrients from incoming water. The students aimed to make their local lake healthier for the community and wildlife. Their concept was so strong, it won the Design Challenge in the 2012
Imagine Tomorrow competition.
MAY 17–19, 2013
Washington State University, Pullman
The Imagine Tomorrow competition challenges 9th through 12th graders to seek innovative solutions to global energy challenges. Students with interests in all subjects — art and design, engineering, social sciences, and sciences — vie for more than $100,000 in cash prizes for themselves and their schools. Register and compete for free! Find out more at
imagine.wsu.edu.
Join us next week as we explore ways to build a better world through technology.
To register for NIE, visit us at seattletimes.com/nie or call 206/652-6290.