Blog – Page 7

Campus Collaboration

advice, advise, advisor The success of most any group project depends upon the communication and collaboration within the team. Discussion, delegation, and delivering – these are core tenants of our team at Project ZeNETH. As our vision and team grows, however, we are tasked with bringing in new energies and channeling them appropriately.

Currently, ZeNETH is in a teaming phase and we are meeting with Western students who have stepped forward as possible designers. These up and coming design students will help us dial in exactly what we need in this tiny house, and just as importantly, what we don’t need.

Looking to create the most substantial impact possible with our work, our team has been envisioning a collaborative and maybe even competitive regional event that hosts various schools also tasked with building a net zero tiny house. We are currently speaking with students from the University of Washington who carry similar aspirations to us, and we would like to expand our network of schools to include tech schools. This notion of creating an event was brought to us by our faculty adviser, Imran, who was a graduate student at UC Berkeley and was able to compete in such a gathering there.

I was able to visit the Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference at Portland State University last week. This was an incredible event that wove together equity and inclusivity into the traditional “environmentalist” framework to allow for more critical inquiry into what the sustainability movement means. At the conference, I was able to meet many inspired students and staff of PNW schools who were excited to learn about what we’re doing at Western.

If you are reading this and feel like you have something to offer our team in any way, please reach out to us at: projectzeneth@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Technology Development Center

You might not know it, but Western is a tenant in of one of the biggest buildings in Bellingham. At 10,000 square feet, the Technology Development Center in Bellingham’s port boasts the space and tools for both Western and Bellingham Technical College students.

Ironically, our team is looking into utilizing the gigantic TDC to build our tiny house. No matter that the TDC is fifty times bigger! Perhaps the extreme differences will drive home the beauty in building small.

Our team got our first glimpse of the space (and its ramp) this week:

The Story So Far

In late September of 2017, I asked Western Professors Imran Sheikh and Charlie Barnhart out for over beers at the Bellingham institution, Elizabeth Station. Hoping to pick their brains about micro-grids and small scale energy systems I pestered them with many questions that began with, “What if..?” What resulted from that two hour conversation and my frantic napkin scribbling, however, was a proposal to launch the first ever tiny house built with Western Washington University.

My focus at Western is to gather as much practical knowledge of the energy field as possible, and to return to my hometown of Port Townsend, WA to use it there. This being said, the notion of school work as exercises in hypothetical situations has never sat right with me. It was clear then that when I was asked to design a zero net energy house in a class I wanted to make sure I’d do something with the result.

Thankfully, I knew I wasn’t alone in this thought and when the idea came along that maybe we could construct a real house I quickly contacted fellow energy student, Stella Tsitsiragos. We were already researching how Western could utilize more solar power on its campus, and when I shared the idea of designing a tiny house through the university she was immediately on board.

After much talk throughout the fall of 2017 with questions like, “Are we really doing this?”, we decided to establish our inaugural core team of Project ZeNETH. Professor Imran Sheikh enlisted as our project’s faculty adviser and happens to already be an experienced tiny home designer from his days at UC Berkeley’s THIMBY (Tiny House In My Backyard).

At this point, our other key team members are, of course, Stella Tsitsiragos, who just graduated from Western with her Bachelor of Arts in Energy Policy and Management. She will likely be returning to Western soon as a graduate student and plans on utilizing Project ZeNETH as a key aspect of her research upon her return. Patrick Shive, another notable undergraduate with the Institute for Energy Studies at Western has joined our team. He’s currently wrapping up an internship with the City of Bellingham and is sure to use that education in our work here.

All in all, the story is just getting started with Project ZeNETH. Check back with us any time to find more stories about the first ever tiny house constructed with Western Washington University.

-Kellen

Welcome

Welcome to Project ZeNETH!

We are a team of students and faculty that are tackling sustainable home design, energy efficiency, and even affordable housing right here in Bellingham, Washington.

Onwards!

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