OSU students develop plan to save national lab thousands
Friday, September 2, 2011
As interns in the Faculty and Student Teams (FaST) program this summer, three College of Human Sciences’ students helped the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory lower energy costs.
Design, Housing and Merchandising undergraduate students Anna Eckhoff, Ashlee Dowdy and Kristin Schieffer formed the team lead by Paulette Hebert, professor in DHM. Throughout the 10-week program, the group surveyed the layout of the Argonne facility and mapped out every light bulb, fixture and switch. They also measured illumination intensity and used their findings to determine the laboratory’s energy consumption compared with industry lighting standards.
The team presented their findings, which could potentially save the facility over $10,000 in annual energy costs, at the culmination of the FaST program, which is funded by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.
The lighting survey was part of Argonne’s initiative to reduce energy consumption by 30 percent by 2015.
Changes such as cleaning fixtures, reducing the number of bulbs in some fixtures and replacing light switches with motion sensors will help to make the company become more sustainable.
The opportunity to work on the large scale project proved very valuable to both the students and the advisor.
“I find it personally rewarding to give something back and contribute even in a small way towards the needs of our country through work at a facility like Argonne National Laboratory,” Hebert said.
This is Hebert’s second year to take a team of all female students to the Argonne National Laboratory. The highly advanced technology that is developed at the Argonne facility is mostly done through male-dominated math, science, and engineering professions.