Responses To Open ProposalHey Andrew - I think it's a great, ambitious project idea. I have no idea how conceivable it is. I think it would be worth a bunch of us taking it on as a research project for at least 2 weeks so we can get a sense of whether it's something that can be accomplished. - Rebecca So I have a comment about Andrew's idea as well as a suggestion. First of all, thanks for putting that out there. We talked about it for a bit, but i'd like to put this argument up on the wiki. Personally I don't understand this urge to get "off the grid". What is the exact reason? Is it that Con-Ed is polluting the environment with coal power plants? (I have no idea- in Israel thats the case...) Do they have a monopoly for the power providers in NYC? If so, is that the reason? Even if their power plants are polluting, doesn't car exhaust and plastics pollute more? I guess I just don't understand the true motive to "get off the grid". I know it will be a great achievement, and might be a sort of statement to the city, but is this where we should put all our energy? On the other hand, I do think it would be a fantastic idea to utilize the solar panel, as well as create other alternative "clean" power sources maybe only for the school projects at first. It would be great to build a library of different options for sustainable power generators for ITP-ers, so that projects could consider going wireless and not be concerned with plugging into the wall. Sadly, I'll be missing tomorrow's class, but hope to catch in on the discussions. - Gilad I agree very much with Gilad. I think it is an admirable and realistic thing to aim for, but I would qualify it slightly. The first thing we have to do before taking any part of ITP off the grid is to understand ITP's power consumption in general. I believe very strongly that the first step in sustainability is not new technologies but reevaluation of existing practices. So, how much power do the lights/computers draw? Are they left on all the time? What are the energy costs of that? What kind of fixtures do we have? How well insulated are our windows. In other words, what is the total energy "budget" and energy "behavior profile" for the floor. Significant savings could come out of that kind of a study before even the tiniest alternative energy source is introduced... This is on my member page but I wanted to add this to the debate. -Jeff Yes. I think this is one of those 'knowledge is power' situations. It makes sense to know how the existing situation works before launching into action. That being said, the thing that appeals to me greatly about what Andrew said is the idea of us all working together to actually make something happen. It is so seldom here that we get the opportunity to combine a larger number of people/resources on a project. It is a challenge in itself, but it would be great to see us work together skillfully & smartly to get a larger-scale, well-researched experiment off the ground this semester. -Kate I think I agree with all of you. Collecive action is totally the way to go, and getting "off the grid" is a great starting point. I think that Jeff's "fist things first" approach would be the best way to start the project. However, as Gilad pointed out, the goal is a little unclear. Is "getting off the grid" itself (and the actual energy saved) the goal? or is this a political act (demonstrating that it's possible, enviting others to do the same, etc.) or a little of both? Don't get me wrong, using less energy is a worthy goal in and of itself, I just think that how we answer this question could possibly change how we approach this. -Demetrie |