A student team from the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) at Iowa State University won the 2014 ELECTRI International Green Energy Challenge, held Sept. 28, 2014, in Chicago, Ill.
ELECTRI International and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) challenged collegiate teams throughout the U.S. to an energy audit and retrofit plan of a campus student-use facility. Students in the NECA Iowa State Student Chapter, who call themselves Team Cyclone Energy, conducted this challenge for Iowa State’s Memorial Union.
They proposed lighting replacement and controls, addition of solar technology, and sub-metering in old areas and new areas of Memorial Union. Their solution included estimated costs, a construction schedule, and a financial plan. Throughout the challenge, students communicated with local electrical contractors and Iowa Chapter NECA to produce a project that could be implemented if put on bid. This written proposal was submitted in May 2014, culminating hundreds of hours of student work in one semester.
The top-placed Team Cyclone Energy included construction engineering senior Lucas Baxter, construction engineering junior Caleb Bonderer, civil engineering senior Andrea Dvorak, construction engineering senior Joe Hahn, construction engineering senior Maggie Holt, construction engineering senior Jonathan Jensen, and civil engineering senior Britta Sortland. Students who helped produce the written proposal last spring, and have since graduated, include Spring 2014 construction engineering alumni Alex Buscher and Justin Truckenmiller as well as Spring 2014 civil engineering alumna Kate Glowacki.
Their first place prize was $4,000, which will go toward chapter activities, guest speakers and networking events. The team also placed second for its poster, winning an additional $750. Holt won the Best Presenter Award, which came with a $500 prize.
Students each worked about 15 hours per week within the five weeks prior to competition. “Once we got to the stage in Chicago, giving the presentation was a simple matter of taking a deep breath and delivering exactly what we had prepared,” Holt said. “I can’t express enough how important our team dynamic was to our success.”
CCEE Lecturer Beth Hartmann and CCEE Senior Lecturer Jenny Baker co-advised the team. “I see this as a big service to students,” Hartmann said. “It gives students a chance to produce a formal proposal, gain exposure to professional electrical work, and network with engineering students and employers throughout the country.”
Iowa State has been in the Green Energy Challenge finals in each of the last three years. In 2012 and 2013, Team Cyclone Energy scored the top written request for proposal; student teams that achieve a top-3 written score advance to the national competition. They placed second for this year’s written plan.