Class of 2008 rulez!

Think Tank 2009 ain't got sh*t on us. :)
If you're reading this, you're nostalgic.

Love,
Jonah

PS: Hi Martha!

Greenwall Proposal "B"

Greenwall Proposal "B"
2. Active Living Walls
by Ashley, Veronica, Amy and David

Our research into the HVAC system of the Sharp Centre showed us how fresh air is brought indoors and that we do not need to open windows (or want them open because air from a window would throw off the HVAC's feedback sensors that monitor room temperature and humidity). So, if the IAQ is excellent, what is the problem?

Heating and Cooling outdoor air burns fossil fuels

In the winter, cold fresh air must be heated before it can go into the building, and in the summer it must be cooled. This levelling of the outdoor air temperature to comfortable room temperature is carbon-intensive as well as costly, especially when one considers that the indoor air is refreshed several times per hour. To do this job the building's heating bill and eco-footprint must be enormous.

Thus! Our problem changed from a concern about IAQ to one of reducing the building's eco-footprint.


Active Living Walls: Let's make our own fresh air!
Greenwalls, or more precisely, "Active Living Walls" as patented by Nedlaw, the company that designed the Koffler Institute wall that I saw (above), are alternative sources of fresh air that replace outdoor air ventilation, and because the air stays indoors the HVAC doesn't need to heat or cool it as much, if at all. A Living Wall is a microcosm of the ecology of the world outside that replicates indoors what happens outdoors, namely those processes that generate the fresh air we breathe. How it works is that the air inside a building is pulled through the living wall where microbes (bacteria) thrive in a continuously moving film of water and as air meets water the microbes breakdown any contaminants like VOC's in the air before the HVAC recirculates the fresh air back into the (closed) loop. So, there you have it, people, fresh air all year long without heating or cooling it to the extent that we do now.

Ideal Location

Where is the most effective location for a living wall at OCAD? Right in your face as you walk through the doors! When you look up, there are walls that go up forever right up to the roof. Putting living walls left, right and centre would not get in anybody's way; and if that weren't enough, these walls face windows that bombard them with natural light all day long.


To prove my point, look at how well this little guy is doing!


Cost
Nedlaw told me that the Koffler wall cost about $35K to install. My own quick and rough calculation is that a wall the size of our proposal would be...let us say, several times more than that! Though I imagine it would pay for itself very quickly, the daunting startup cost is why we finally went with Proposal "A", The Green Screen. However...

Opportunity knocks: The Bandwagon is coming!

Toronto to Host 2009 International Green Roof Congress

1000's of people will attend:
Architects
Landscape architects
Engineers
Roofing Professionals
Policy Makers
NGOs
Academics
Manufacturers
Contractors

And when one looks at who is on the advisory committee, who can doubt that green infrastructure is becoming mainstream:

• Brian Denney, CAO, Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA)
• Marian Fraser, President, Fraser & Company
• Eva Ligeti, Executive Director, Clean Air Partnership
• Peter Love, Chief Conservation Officer, Ontario Power Authority
• Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
• Ken Ogilvie, Executive Director Emeritus, Pollution Probe
• David O'Brien, President & CEO, Toronto Hydro
• Scott Pegg, Environmental Policy Group, Ontario Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure
• Anastasios (Tas) Venetsanopoulos, VP Research & Innovation, Ryerson University Toronto
• Scott Wylie, President, Wytech Building Envelope Solutions / Chair, GRHC Ontario Chapter

Conclusion
It's a no brainer that our Greenwall Proposal "B" while expensive is not far fetched but is in fact very much in touch with the zeitgeist, and as such, if we proposed this next year funding would be thrown at our living wall from all directions. Then OCAD would be renowned not only for the hip Sharp Centre but also for our Living (and breathing) Wall.


note:
I wasn't going to blog this since our group went with Proposal "A", but doing the presentation this morning put a spur into me blogspot.

THE GREEN SCREEN- david, amy, ash and ver

Above image is an example of what the green screen would look like

The problem we chose to address was not having any operable windows on the 5th floor. Causing a somewhat stuffy feeling in the atmosphere as this area becomes crowded with students.

We initially started off the with the idea of incorporating green walls to clean the air, add a more liveable feeling to the environment and natural elements to the busy stressful area.. After doing some research we discovered that it would not be feasable mainly due to cost issues, but we started analyzing the benefits and negatives of the green walls and decided to design a similar approach whereby the students could interact with it, but with similar benefits to the green wall.

We came up with the green screen which is a planter box on wheels with a trellis in it and climbing plants (vines) growing up and on it. This model would be not higher than six feet and is multifunctional, posing as a partition wall which may provide privacy depending on its arrangement. With the student interaction by moving this device we also decided to incorporate other features such as seating and additional desks to create a workspace. Smalll trickling portable fountains can also be incorporated to add a blissful acoustic. This device being modular allows for the air quality to be cleaned not in one, but many areas.

The plants we have chosen that work best with the 'green screens' is called pothos. Which is an evergreen leafy vine, easy to grow, climbing on any surface. It is low maintenance due to the fact that it can receive in-frequent watering. There is no need for fertilizer and it is adaptable to almost any environment, therefore it can be in full light or dark shade. This plant also has minimal to no insects, is odor free and contains no pollen for those who suffer from allergies.

The ' green screen' can be moved to any area of the school, most helpful in environments dealing with harmful materials that release toxins into the air. This inexpensive design would be very effective and will make the overall atmosphere (of where it is placed) a more relaxing, comfortable area.

OCAD Solar PV Project

by: Steven, Leo & Guia (Group #4)

Horse Palace Live Feed
http://view2.fatspaniel.net/FST/Portal/TorontoHorsePalace/
Includes a brief introduction on the Horse Palace Solar PV Project, Live Data Feedback, Webcam & How the system works.

How It's Made : Solar Panels
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=qYeynLy6pj8
A Discovery Channel segment on how solar panels are made.

Little Zen Gardens

Group 3---katie lau, katherien chu, joanna ng

The most important thing in the garden is the soil; if without good soil there will be no good products. There are 3 main types of soil: clay, sandy and loam. Clay soils have small particles that hold moisture and nutrients. They warm up and cool down slowly. Sandy soils have larger particles. They change temperature, are light in texture, and drain water and nutrients quickly. Adding compost to sandy soil helps it hold moisture and conserve nutrients. Loam is a soil type that is the combination of sandy and clay soil therefore it is also an organic soil. It holds nutrients and moisture, and yet drains well. Most likely we will want to work with loam soil. We can get this soil in Home depot or wal mart.

There are some plant that is easy to take care of, like Boston ivy and Morning glory. We are planning to put a fence onto the wall and plant them on the ground, and they will grow very healthy. They are both perennial plants, which means they can live more then two years. Then the OCADer can enjoy the beautiful view that ivy and morning glory created.

Organic Fertilizers VS Lab-made Fertilizers

Organic fertilizers are by products or the remains of natural things. These by products range from manure, to animal blood. These products may sound scary or disgusting but they are a part of the cycle of life. Some of these organic fertilizers can be found at home, something we would throw out, one of which is egg shells. We can sprinkle egg shells onto the soil of our plants to help fertilize them. Organic fertilizers can be used as nutrients for the plants and can help them grow. When we use Organic Fertilizers we improve the amount of minerals that are in the soil, making the soil more capable of holding water for the plants. The organic fertilizers provides more places for micro organisms to grow, so they help break down the nutrients in the soil, thus increasing soil quality. The organic fertilizers make for stronger soil structures, resulting in more oxygen getting into the soil. The organic fertilizers also are slow to have their nutrients leached away.

Lab-made fertilizers may have higher concentrations of nutrients, but that’s all they have. They also costly.The Lab-made fertilizers usually cannot provide all the things that Organic fertilizers do. The worst of the things that Lab-made fertilizers do is they do not prevent leaching as much as Organic fertilizers. When nutrients are leached away into the water supply they have many adverse effects on the amphibious creatures. The chemicals in plant fertilizers also help algae grow.. When algae grows uncontrollably it takes up a lot of oxygen in the water, because plants need to breath too. When this happens, the fish in the water end up dying because they don’t have enough oxygen. When there is too much algae it blocks out the sun and other amphibious creatures die too.

Organic Pesticides VS Lab-made Pesticides

When we use pesticides to kill bugs we affect the natural cycle of life. When we use Lab-made pesticides we are killing all the bugs in the area. These pesticides kill all of the bugs all right, but they are killing the bugs that help our plants grow. Insects help stimulate plant growth by drinking nectar or by pollinating the plants. Lab-made pesticides also seep into the soil and cause pollute the drinking water. Pesticides also are harmful to pets and animals so it is not good to use Lab-made pesticides. Organic Pesticides wont affect other organisms and they wont pollute the environment.

We can make organic pesticides easily many ways. We can use exhausted ground coffee beans by leaving it out in the sun and stirring it everyday for ten days, after that we can use it to kill insects by sprinkling it into the soil. The coffee beans can also be left in the sun for 3 or 4 days, then mixed with soil to produce pest repelling soil. This is because the caffeine in coffee beans destroys the insects nervous systems, so the insects will stay away from it. This is evident in coffee farms, coffee farms have very little insects because of the effect caffeine has on them. Another thing that can be used to kill pests are garlic, pepper, onion, and ginger. One or some of these can be added to a small amount of soap water to kill germs and fungus.

We are also planning to form a club name Green Club. Students in OCAD can join this group. In this group, you will learn some knowledge of environment, how to plant flowers and vegetables, learn how to make organic fertilizer and pesticide. Moreover, we will create some events, for example, in Christmas, students could plant ever-green, Christmas trees, and decorate them. The knowledge that students learn not only apply for OCAD but also their house, or even the community. It is because through the learning process, they might interest in planting stuff, so they would willing to plant stuff maybe in their front yard or backyard.

Get-smart, get a new smart student id now! :) (timothy lee and stephanie yiu)

Ever had an experience that you just ran out of change to buy tokens from the subway station? Or in worst case that you also didn’t have dollar bills in your wallet as well?

Ever thought every time accessing the printing machines, photocopy machines at OCAD are very time consuming in terms of the long process in every stage of the execution to in order to accessing the machines?

To save all the wasted resources and time, yet making OCAD community a more convenience and efficiency place, we are happy to present you the high end technology mini chip sensor combined with the OCAD student ID card. With this combination of high end technology and wisdom, by simply carrying the brand new smart student card, all the issues would be resolved easily.

-Accessing TTC services even if you ran out of money.

-Accessing photocopy and printing machines without having to add money value to student account before hand in order to do so.

- Rechargeable machines are now available at all the TTC stations and OCAD stationeries.

So what are you waiting for? The revolution has just begun.

Floor Plan



green- area for Vegetables
pink- area for Flowers

Vegetable Growing Basics- by Katherine Chu

Choose a site that is:

* Sunny. Receives at least 6 hours of direct sun daily.
* Well-drained. No standing water after heavy rains.
* Relatively level.
* Away from trees. They can shade and compete with crops for water and nutrients.
* Protected from high winds. Good air circulation. * Close to a water source.

Planting








Cool-season crops (spring and Fall):

These include lettuce, peas, and most of the cabbage and onion families. They grow best when the weather is cool and most can take at least a light frost. In much of New York, you usually plant them through the spring for early summer harvests, then again in midsummer for fall harvests. The plants are usually compact, their root systems are relatively small, and they are more sensitive to nutrient deficiencies.


Warm-season crops (summer):

These include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, corn, and the family of vine crops that includes squash, cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. Many are tropical plants, and they grow best when the weather is warm. They are often large, sprawling plants with extensive root systems.

How to protect plants during wintertime?



During wintertime, we will need to mulch for protecting the plants. The purpose of the mulch is not to keep the plants warm but to prevent the ground from heaving because of alternate freezing and thawing. Do not undervalue the importance of mulching and, depending on the individual plants, some will be heavily mulched, and some lightly mulched. You'll need to know what is required for each species of plant you'll be growing.

To get the most benefit from the winter mulch there just has to be sufficient moisture in the soil. If the area have less rainfall than usual in the autumn months you'll want to thoroughly water the beds before winter.

Snow is also wonderful winter mulch if an area where snow seems to remain on the ground for long periods of time. If there are continuous snows, you won't even need the winter mulch.

Solar Panels on OCAD’s Sharp Centre for Design

By: Steven, Leo, & Guia (Group #4)


Like many institutions, OCAD shares the need for energy to power numerous lighting systems, powering laptops, charging cellphones and many more. These are all systems made for the convenience and comfort of OCAD students and staff. After researching about different forms of renewable energy, we have decided that it’s about time OCAD install solar panels on top of the Sharp Centre for Design.

Why Solar Panels?
The roof of the Sharp Centre is the perfect location for installing solar panels. It is not overshadowed by any building and thus, has unblocked access to daylight all year-round. There are a lot of unused space aside from some ventilation and tubing systems that run in different directions.
In addition, the surplus of energy that is harvested through the solar panels could be sold back to Toronto’s energy grid for 42 cents per kW.

What are Solar Panels?
Solar panels consist of interconnected solar cells, arranged on a flat surface, that captures energy from the sun to produce heat and electricity . It is the most popular form of renewable energy and comes in two types: solar thermal and solar photovoltaic. Solar thermal uses sunlight to heat up water, which then produces steam and turns a turbine to produce electricity. Solar photovoltaic collects solar radiation and actively converts this energy to electricity. For this particular solar panel installation, we suggest the use of solar photovoltaic systems.

Technical Specifications:
OCAD's Table Top Dimensions : 31 m wide by 84 m long
Total Surface Area: 2604 square metres
Estimated Usable Surface Area (minus the walk-space, ventilation & tubing systems) : 1302 square metres

We contacted numerous solar energy companies and here are those that were kind enough to take our questions:

1. Eco Alternative Energy
What is the energy capacity generated by one panel?
Each 1.58 by 0.81 m panel will generate approximately 170 W/hour and costs $1100.
Would snow be a problem?
No, this is one of the reasons why the panels are tilted at a 20 to 34 degree angle. The snow should be able to slide off the panels. Although it is recommended that snow be brushed off the panels after a heavy snowfall.
How are they installed?
Each panel weighs 34.1 pounds or 15.5 kg. Crossbars are installed together with support beams all along the roof. Thus, the wright of the panels would be evenly distributed all across the roof.

2. Carmanah (Richard Wayte)
What is the energy capacity generated by one panel?
Each 1.5 m by 2.5 m panel will generate up to 250 W/hour and costs $1000 without installation.
Would snow be a problem?
Light snowfalls can easily slide off the angled panels while heavy snowfalls would require a brush off. Nevertheless, the issue is not as big as it seems since the amount of energy generated during winter time is at its lowest. Hence the loss is not as great.
Would OCAD be able to support the weight of the panels?
Richard Wayte from Carmanah stated that during his entire career, he has never encountered such a problem. Each panel weighs from 30-50 pounds. The issue however might be about how the panels are fastened to the building. One way would be to use a weight to support the panels. The other way is to use an anchor and penetrate the roof. This, says Wayte, might not be feasible everywhere, and not every client has agreed to that.

3. Solera
What is the energy capacity generated by one panel?
A panel generating 200W is usually 1.319 by 0.894 metres, with a thickness of 35 millimeters. For a grid type setup, which includes insulation, cables, the panels and the installation, it would cost $12 500 per kW installed. For a panel that is 30 degrees tilted, 3kWhours will be produced per kW installed. This makes approximately 600 Watts hours/day for each 200 Watts panels.
Would snow be a problem?
Snow should not be a problem, at least not for Southern Ontario. They should be sloped to 30-40 degrees and if snow covers the panel, it will usually melt from the heat. Moreover, the panels are built to resist hurricanes in the States. They are covered with a layer of thick glass and hence very resistant and strong.
Would OCAD be able to support the weight of the panels?
Buildings are engineered to be able to support any kinds of weight, so that should not be a problem.

Of all three companies, we decided to go with the Carmanah group due to the extensive size of their panels for a reasonable price. The Carmanah group is also responsible for the solar installation on the Horse Palace building at Exhibition Place.

Total Cost & Break Even Point
Using the Horse Palace Exhibition as a comparison with our proposal, their Solar PV Project costs around $1.1 million for 536 solar modules on 15 368 square feet space. In metres, that'll be roughly 1428 square metres. Approximately 91% of Horse Palace's total space is what we propose to be used for OCAD's own Solar PV Project. Our estimated total cost for OCAD's solar project is $1 000 000 give or take.

According to a CBC Toronto Feature on Solar Revolution by Paul Shervill, it may take about 20 years to recoup investments on solar energy. This is evident in a Horse Palace case study where "The project cost a total of $1.1 million. Annual electricity revenues are expected to be $50,000. The simple payback would be 22 years if the 42 cents per kW hour were paid for 22 years. (source: Ontario's Standard Offer Program)" This is where incentives like the Better Building Partnership of Toronto comes in to help encourage people to use clean energy.

Fundraising & Incentives
OCAD Sustainability Task Force
As of 2008/2009, the task force budget includes $518,000 "allocated to conduct sustainability energy audit and implementation of audit." (source: OCAD Website)

Federation of Canadian Municipalities; Green Municipal Fund
Provides grants related to projects that include sustainable community plans, which includes an energy sector of green buildings (retrofits and new construction. The assessment criteria is specific to each call for application. They can provide loans and loans with grants for up to 80% of total costs with loans of up to $20 million and grants up to $2.5 million. (source: CSCD-GMF Funding)

Toronto Atmospheric Fund
Public institutions such as universities like OCAD are eligible for TAF grants. They have a specific strategic program area called SolarCity that encourages building local solar generation capacity. Their three granting categories are as follows:
* Concept Development (up to $10,000 to fully assess a program concept)
* General (up to $100,000), or
* Incubation (up to $100,000 annually for up to three years to sustain a significant emissions reduction program) (source: TAF Website)

Better Building Partnership of Toronto
BBP is an incentive program that attempts to reduce the city's electricity demand by 70 MW through a conservation. "The incentive is up to $400 per kW of peak demand reduction, or up to $0.05 per kWh of annual energy savings depending on the size of the project. Incentive payments are limited to 40% of total Eligible Costs." (source: BBP-ECI-Program-Guidelines.Feb08.pdf)

Marissa and Lilian's OCAD's Plastactic

OCAD's Plastactic 

Our Big Idea is to raise awareness about the amount of plastics we consume within our soctiey. We are not trying to make people feel bad about the problem, but show how bad the problem is and in turn give them an alternative to better the situation at hand. Hopefully this helps people from buying plastic water bottles. Bottled water is the single largest growth area among all beverages; This includes alcohol, juices and soft drinks. Per Capita consumption has more than doubled over the last decade.

For our Idea we plan to set up an area in Butterfield Park where students from the student union or those students who volunteer for the cause will be working on shifts. They will be guarding the large mountain of plastic bottles. They will also be there for people to sign up and tallying how many bottles people bring per day. Posters will be the first thing distributed around the school and community and flyers will be distributed two weeks prior to the event. There will also be a large banner to show people where to sign up for this event. This event is to raise awareness mainly for OCAD students but also to show our local community the amount of waste produced from plastic bottles. At the end of this event there will be a huge mountain of wasted plastic bottles. Hopefully this will leave an impact on the students and show the devastating amount of waste caused  by water bottles. Unfortunately there is no refund for plastic water bottles. So they would be transported to recycling. This idea is not meant to solve the problem entirely but change the way people look at the issue. If we give 50 people free OCAD water bottles that they can keep for years, this will eliminate 50 more people from buying 50 plastic water bottles.

metro passes (caroline, jonah, stephanie)

Metro pass information:
buy a Metro pass from the 24th day of the prior month until the fourth working day of the month .Students: Is only valid with a TTC Student Discount Card Photo ID.
Monthly Metropass regular price: $109.00 ( anyone that does not fit into the student or senior)
Monthly Metropass student/senior price: $91.2 ( for students from the age of 13-19)
Student pass has to have a photo ID card to accompany it at all times.
Post-secondary school students (university or college) may not use the card.
To get the card is a huge process to get it.
Talk to Student Union:
They send out an email to make people aware that you can sign up to get next months metro pass.
Students either:
sign up in the front lobby in the main building for 2 hours students come and bring exact change for their ticket.Students go to student union with exact change.
Another email is sent out when the bus passes arrive for the people that have ordered them may go pick them up and if there is extra then it is first come first serve.
The union orders 118 passes for the entire school, if more is needed then they order more. (not a lot)They offer the card for 98$ instead of 109$. Students save 11$.
Problems with the Metro Pass after talking to the Student Union:
The OCAD solution is the best solution for university students. The TTC is not university student friendly, It offers to younger students in high school.
Younger students that can get the discount card have to go throw a very long process to get the Photo ID discount card. If they have this card they can get the metro pass for 91.50$.
In Montreal there are 2 discount cards offered. For students under 18 years old and then and intermediate for students from 18-25.
The STM comes to your school at the beginning of the year for a few days to take pictures and you get your card right away.
If you miss this day you have to have a letter from your school and go to Berri-uqam metro station and they give you the card right away.
How to improve the Student metro pass at OCAD:
Issues
The TTC does not offer university students a reduced bus/metro pass.
OCAD offers a reduced metro pass that students can purchase throw the school for 98$ instead of 109$.
This is the best offer that a university student in Toronto can get.
Solution
Make OCAD students more aware of the reduced bus that the school has because most students do not open this email.
Create posters and instead of only selling the pass for 2 hours in the month having the sign up during events that the school is having.
On a large scale if OCAD teamed up with other Toronto universities and try to get the TTC to create an intermediate pass like in Montreal. The metro pass should be the same as high school students. University students pay for the pass themselves.
The process for a student to get the card should be less complicated and improved from what it is now for high school students.
( we also created 2 posters but they blogger is not able to up load them.)

The Beginning of the End

a poster to make you think about what you have learned this year and also what you can learn from a tree and your surroundings. A hand-out will be given in class, do what you want with it, ask yourself the question, What is your tree. Scribble, draw rip it up, all what it wanted here is to think about it. A tree holds a lot of answers.

thanks for the open ears!
RDV

Making OCAD and Our Local Community a Better Place by Alfred Wong, Stewart Shum

Last month, OCAD sponsored a program called 'Green Exchange' which provided an opportunity for people to divert end-of-life electronics away from the landfill sites. We were successful at recycling 3000lbs of e-waste. In addition people also had the opportunity to select and re-use some of the electronic equipment. So what happened after that Green Exchange?

OCAD will continue to collect used batteries, cell phones and printer cartridges for proper recycling. Collection boxes are located outside of the Service Bureau (Level 2 and Level 6 of 100 McCaul Street) and outside 317e, the Store for Computers and Books (Level 3, 100 McCaul Street).

Ongoing Challenges: E-waste occurs on an ongoing basis and it tends to clutter our basements, storage areas and other parts of our offices and homes until we find a way to dispose of it. There are a number of recycling depots that will accept E-Waste throughout the GTA but if it is not convenient for people, the E-Waste likely sits and gathers dust. What else can be done? Here's our proposal: OCAD to sponsor, and coordinate an ongoing 'Green Exchange' program 2-4x per year. Our model is based upon a three-prong approach:

• Partnerships
• Communication
• Planning & Organization

Partnerships:

We are looking for partners to assist us in the development, execution and maintenance of the E-Waste Recycling program. The partners that we are focusing on are:

• E-Waste Recyclers
• Community
• OCAD

Communication:

We are seeking to help the community understand the damage to the environment by not disposing of E-Waste in a responsible manner.

• Education
• Identity
• Awareness

Planning & Organization:


Planning & organization is critical to the sustainability and ongoing maintenance of the program. Our three areas of focus are:

• Volunteers
• E-Waste Program Development
• Information Systems

Sustainability task force at OCAD

Some of you have taken your proposals to Lewis Nicholson, a faculty member who leads the OCAD Sustainability Task Force. Well done. We need student members -- LIKE YOU -- on the task force. Let me know if you are interested in real action - and committing some of your time, talent, and energy to create change at OCAD!

AGO favourite

MARK PRENT born in Montreal 1947
Titled: Summer of '71, Fishing with Jimmy John and Fraser 1972

This is the most memorable piece at the AGO for me. Its grotesque form stimulates my memories of fishing in the Ontario wilderness a few summers back. It captures and resurrects the tension of hopelessly being attached by mosquitoes (bees in his case). You can't run, or hide.

solar energy follow up, images + website

This is the follow up blog post from aleks, haomin, kaylyn and sarah


Here is an image of the solar panels currently in place at the horse palace, you can view their performance here: http://view2.fatspaniel.net/FST/Portal/TorontoHorsePalace/

Main Facade Retrofit

A comprehensive and detailed proposal is nearly finished.

Vicenta, Alex, and Maxim

OCAD's Existing HVAC System

Greenwall Proposal
1. Preliminary Research
by Ashley, Veronica, Amy and David

How does our existing HVAC system circulate indoor air?

Air enters and exits the 5th and 6th floors through vents. In the common area the vents are hanging overhead. The vents in the foreground are drawing in stale air, the vents in the background are supplying fresh air. They go through separate pipes connected to the.....

RTU

The workhorses of the HVAC system are the rooftop units which circulate the air.

The manufacturer of the Sharp Centre's HVAC system is Trane. This computerized equipment maintains precise control of the variables of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ):

• temperature
  
• humidity
  
• particulate count
  
• fresh air volume and circulation

The system is timed to shut down at 1am daily when the building is closed.
This is RTU 6-8 (Rooftop Unit, 6th floor, unit 8). Each floor requires 8 units to circulate the air, each RTU services about 3 rooms.

The RTU's exhaust, where the stale air exits.
And the RTU's supply, where fresh air is drawn in.
This particular RTU has a special job. It only handles the air along the perimeter of the building's interior.

Natural gas line. Used by the RTU's for heating the air.

RTU. Panel open. Yellow gas line. Air filter.

AIR FILTER

Air filter made by American Air Filter. These are changed every 1-4 months by an outside company that inspects and maintains the HVAC system.

I did not see the filter part #...however, air filters are rated according to MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value), from MERV 1 to MERV 16. Hospitals will have MERV 14 and up. However, as stated above, IAQ is not just about filters. There is a multiply of variables.

According to the EPA poor IAQ can affect mental functioning and "sick building syndrome" is a major cause of illnesses leading to absenteeism.

Noise Pollution

This cylindrical housing is a baffle that soundproofs the unit because its operating noise levels can sometimes exceed city limits and such noise pollution would be unbearable for people who live in the building directly across the street.

Solar energy model!

This shows how the solar panels would look on the roof of OCAD, facing south (to get the most sunlight) at a 45 degree angle.

Made by me, Sarah. :)

Greywater

Greywater Irrigation May Not Be A Good Choice If:

* Soil is not suitable - If your soil is either too permeable or not permeable enough, you may not be able to recycle your greywater, or you may need a system with some modifications.


* Area too small - You need enough soil to process the greywater and enough plants to use it.


* Climate unsuitable - If it's too wet to benefit from irrigating with greywater, there may be a better way to dispose of it. If it's too cold, you will only be able to recycle in the warmer months. In cold climates, the heat in greywater may be more valuable than the water itself. See Drain-water Heat Recovery.


* Permit hassles - Many jurisdictions in North America have no clear guidelines regarding greywater processing. With water shortages looming in the near future for many regions, this may change sooner than later. Health concerns are often cited as the reason for not allowing greywater recycling, although there has never been a documented case of somebody becoming sick as a result of exposure to greywater.


* Low cost/benefit ratio - Where legal requirements dictate a complex system and there is only a small flow of water, greywater recycling is not economically feasible.


* Inconvenience - If the greywater system you are considering is more expensive and requires more maintenance than a properly functioning septic or sewer system.





Precautions

* Prevent contact or consumption - Avoid accidental connections between freshwater and greywater plumbing

- Label greywater plumbing, including garden hoses

- Use gloves when cleaning greywater filters

- Wash your hands after contact with greywater

* Microorganisms on plants - Don’t apply untreated greywater onto lawns, or fruits and vegetables that are eaten raw (eg. strawberries, lettuce, carrots)


* Breathing of microorganisms - Don’t recycle untreated greywater with sprinklers. Droplets can evaporate leaving harmful microorganisms in the air where they can be breathed in


* Use only greywater that is fairly clean to start with - Greywater containing water used to launder diapers or generated by anyone with an infectious disease should be diverted to a sewer or septic system


* Don’t store greywater - Use it within 24 hours before bacteria multiply. After 24 hours it is well on its way to becoming blackwater


* Don’t overload your system - If you’re having company and your system is designed for 2 people, divert the greywater to the sewer or septic system for the evening


* Chemical contamination - Don’t buy household cleaning products you wouldn’t want in your greywater system. Divert greywater containing harmful chemicals to the sewer or septic system

* Prevent contamination of surface water - Discharge greywater underground or into a mulch filled basin


solution

Use greywater system to supply water at grange park and street tree around ocad

BikeShare - Gwen and Cara

Problem : bike theft in the city.
Many students are unable or are wary about biking in the city. Bikes can be quite expensive and if stolen, can become a personal loss.
Our Ideal : a Bike Share program run through and by OCAD, to be used exclusively by students and faculty. A fee of $25 annually would be added to your BikeShare account (similar to printing or photocopying account on the student cards). Bikes could be rented through the Print office (Red 115 Building) @ $2 for under an hour, and then $1 for each additional hour. The rental would be limited to 24hrs to keep down theft, costs and damages down. Student/Faculty cards would be loaded with money and card would be swiped after each use, deducting the fee from your account.
Location : South/East corner of Dundas and McCaul, on North side of Red 115 Building. The space is currently unused. There is more then enough ground space for bikes/racks and wall space could be used for advertising which would go towards funding this project.
Cost : 2 small bike racks @ $350 each, 25 good quality bikes @ $200.00 to $400.00 each, locks for each bike @ $25.00 each.

aleks, haomin, kaylyn, sarah - Taking Action on Renewable Energy

Group Members: aleks, haomin, kaylyn, sarah

Proposal:

Installation of Solar panels on the flat rooftop of the tabletop structure above the OCAD’s main building.

Purpose:

Allow OCAD contribute to environmental sustainability, by switching part of OCAD’s energy use to a more “green” source. Usage of solar energy will reduce OCAD’s Carbon footprint, and overall emission of toxic chemicals into the environment by other non-renewable energy sources.

What’s been done?

OCAD’s current step toward a “greener” source of energy use was to enter into the bullfrog system for the student union building. This system allows part of OCAD to be powered by a “green” source for an increased fee on electricity.

We, however, whish to push this initiative into the next step, by having OCAD become part of the “green” source of electricity. By introducing this system of solar energy into the open grid hydro system, we not only produce electricity for ourselves, but also any extra electricity gets to be inputted into Ontario’s hydro grid.

Technical information:

Structural requirements:

The rooftop of OCAD’s tabletop structure measures approximately 83 meters by 31 meters, which translates into approximately 2500 square meters of area available. We propose to use half of that area, which is about 1250 square meters or approximately 14000 square foot of available space for installing the solar panels.

There should be no additional strain to the building from the extra weight, as the original architect that designed the Sharp Center had proposed that prefabricated student pub or lecture hall can be hung from the tabletop. Thus, the extra weight shouldn’t pose any problems.

The solar panels needs to be south facing, and inclined at about 45° angle. The Sharp Center is completely unobstructed from the south side, making it perfect for the solar panels.

Technology:

We decided to do a comparison study between what we are proposing and another case study that was done at the Horse Palace at the Exhibition place, in late 2006. Their solar panels covered approximately 15000 square feet of area, which is similar to the area we r proposing to cover on OCAD’s rooftop. They chose between two systems, a 50kw system and a 100kw system, which will produce 120,000 kWh of electricity per year. In the end, they decided to opt for the 100kw system, as it was a lot more cost efficient to install.

We propose to do the same, and install the 100kw system at OCAD. Also, because Carmanah Technologies had done a system of this scale for the case study, it would be a lot more efficient to use the same company, as they have the experience to create a smooth operation.

Budgeting and Incentives:

The costs for solar panels are according to the energy produced by the system. To create a 100kw system costs about $1.1 million (where as the 50kw system require about $750,000, about $15,000 per kw) averaging about $11,000 per kw.

From our research, we understand that OCAD’s sustainability taskforce only has about $518,000 in their budget. However, the government gives many incentives toward those that wish to build systems of energy production based on sustainable sources. The case study at the Exhibition Place built their system primarily based on government incentives. They received a grant of $250,000 from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and a grant of $250,000 from the Toronto Atmospheric Fund. In addition, they were also able to apply for a $600,000 interest free loan from the Better Buildings Partnership.

We understand that we might not receive the same type of grants from the government, because the case study was a pilot program. However, the existence of these grants and loans will be able to make the project feasible. As well, the government also has another incentive – for every kilowatt-hour produced by the renewable system, the government will pay back 42 cents, thus allowing the system to pay for itself in about 22 years.

Interior Environments Proposal

The Problem
Our Group has decided to focus in on improving the overall air quality indoors, specifically on the 6th floor of the O.C.A.D. Sharp Building.

Research
Our group conducted quantitative research on the databases and the internet on information regarding possible health effects of poor air quality, OCAD's sustainability task force, previously implemented green walls, and companies that would be able to set up a green wall. We also conducted a survey of OCAD student opinions on the prospect of a green wall in their school via facebook.

Possible Health Effects
* Headaches
* Dizziness
* Trouble concentrating
* Fatigue
* Eye dryness and/or irritation
* Stuffy nose and/or sneezing
* Sinus congestion
* Sore throat and/or husky voice
* Dry cough
* Wheezing and/or shortness of breath
* Nausea
* Skin dryness and/or rashes

Our Solution
A proposal for the implementation of a small scale Green Wall on the 6th floor.

What is a Green Wall and how does it Work?
A green wall is a wall or a free standing structure that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic growing medium.
There are 2 main types of green walls, the Green Facade and the Living Wall.
We are proposing the implementation of a Living Wall which is a pre-fabricated separate structure of vegetation that would then be attached to the wall or frame.

The Benefits
The benefits of implementing a Green Wall at O.C.A.D. are: First of all it has been proven that having plants in a workplace reduces the amount of stress, also an improvement in overall air quality, improved insulation which also would decrease heating costs, and finally overall it would be a physical representation of the steps that O.C.A.D. has made to becoming more sustainable.

Daren, Mariz, Joe, Alex,

Metro Access Around the World

Transportation - Metro Access - Stephanie M

The Octopus Card (Hong Kong)







- launched in September 1997
- It is rechargeable and contactless.
- Can be used as a form of payment in convenience stores, fast food restaurants, vending machines and parking meters
- Different cards for Children the Elderly and Students (Yellow one: standard Adult pass)

Adult: card is sold for HK$150 with an initial value of HK$100
Children/Elderly: This card is sold for HK$70 with an initial value of HK$20
Student: his card is sold for HK$100 with an initial value of HK$30 and a handling charge of HK$20. Students may also qualify for this card at $90 with their pictures and names.


Navigo Pass (Paris)














- Introduced in 2001
- Implemented as a smart card with the Calypso system
- Enables authenticated access at turnstiles by waving the card near an electronic reader
- The Navigo pass can be reloaded monthly or weekly.


Metro Card (NYC)














- Thin, plastic card on which the customer electronically loads fares. It was introduced to enhance the technology of the transit system and eliminate the burden of carrying and collecting tokens.
- Unlimited Ride Metro Card: Daily, Weekly and Monthly
- You get an automatic free transfer between subway
and bus, or between buses.


Oyster Card (Greater London)
















- It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems including London Underground, buses, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, trams and some National Rail services.

- a contactless smartcard which passengers must pass over electronic readers when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it or deduct funds. The cards may be "recharged" in person from numerous sales points, by direct debit or by online purchase


Tap Card (Los Angeles)









a reloadable fare card you can use month after month. TAP cards replace
Paper passes and will soon allow one to travel on different carriers using one card.

Costs the same as a monthly/weekly pass.

can be purchased at Metro Customer Centers or at Metro Pass retail vendor locations.

Transit assignment 3

How to improve the Student metro pass at OCAD

Issues
- The TTC does not offer university students a reduced bus/metro pass.
- OCAD offers a reduced metro pass that students can purchase throw the school for 98$ instead of 109$.
- This is the best offer that a university student in Toronto can get.

Solution
- Make OCAD students more aware of the reduced bus that the school has because most students do not open this email.
- Create posters and instead of only selling the pass for 2 hours in the month having the sign up during events that the school is having.
- On a large scale if OCAD teamed up with other Toronto universities and try to get the TTC to create an intermediate pass like in Montreal. The metro pass should be the same as high school students. University students pay for the pass themselves.
- The process for a student to get the card should be less complicated and improved from what it is now for high school students.

Caroline, Jonah, Stephanie

AGO

This is the second time I've visited AGO (the first was during the construction of the new extension). This time I wasn't able to see all of the galleries due to a lot of time being wasted figuring out the locations. We spent most of our time on the second floor. The flow of the place was confusing, and we had to constantly double back, or walk through the same galleries repeatedly to figure out our own location and where we should head to next. Of the artworks I had seen, I wasn't too impressed, especially the paintings. Most of them were landscapes, and many had large snowscapes with tiny people badly drawing in. The affect was the feeling of stinginess instead of grandeur, especially when the paintings themselves are the size of a small book. Some of the Group of Seven art works where wonderful, however. They featured large landscapes with simple detailings that emphasized the size and gave a feeling of awe. The European art works also were great, they were what was typically seen in their periods, but their weight and mood is no less significant.

AGO - Lawren Harris

This was my first time visiting the Art Gallery of Ontario and I was excited to see the artworks by the Group of Seven, something that I have only heard of and seen in books, but embodies so much of Canada's history and culture. I was fascinated by the works of Lawren Harris, who was dubbed as the unofficial leader of the group. His works looked so simple yet at the same time very refined and elegant. He's able to capture the breathtaking effect of seeing something so grand and astonishing.

In addition, those unique chairs made up of pressed layers of wood were quite the attraction for most of the students. It was a such a surprise that the chairs were soft and actually quite comfortable to sit on!

AGO

A trip to a re-designed AGO was an amazing experience. I especially like the spiral staircase in the main hall which is a very strong and powerful focal point and to me it seems like almost a divine structure. I can only wonder where it leads. I like the arrangement of gallery spaces because it provides flexibility of taking different paths. The use of materials i think is very strong and at the same time elegant. The wood creates this warm atmosphere that is hard to resist and that main hallway facing Dundas street is a really great space to just move around and observe.

I liked the installation gallery...the piece i was moved by was the video of a first-person view from a train in motion through the winding railway tracks. It had an almost hypnotic power over me and i spent quite a few minutes watching it.

Improve OCAD

how to improve the sidewalk and crosswalk at OCAD?

Issues:
the sidewalk is a little too much stuff, like the bike racks and sometime there will be a lots of smoker standing there to smoke.

crosswalk, is working quite well at OCAD, however the crosswalk sign is a little bit too high. Driver sometimes does not pay attention if the sign is flashing or not, it will be dangerous cause if the driver didnt see the light and pedestrian cross the road without knowing it.

Solution:
to make people interact with the sidewalk not just standing there and making a "traffic jam". maybe we can ask school to find a better place to place the bike racks, so that we may have some sidewalk art sale at OCAD. and interact with each other and the sidewalk

for the crosswalk if the crosswalk light is too high for the driver, maybe can try to put the light on the side.

improving ocad

LOCATION: Every studio/working area

ISSUE: No great place for OCAD students to relax and hang out in comfort.

PROPOSAL: Placing more sofas, rugs, coffee tables and lamps around lounges to create a “living room-esque” environment. These fixtures would alleviate the industrial and oppressive mood of the school and encourage easy socialization between students and faculty.

EXECUTION: Asking Student Union for a grant to purchase furnishings.

ago

My favorite section from the AGO would have to be the small room filled with Tom Thomsons’s paintings. The glass roof allowed tons of natural lighting to pour in and really allowed us to see the paintings as they were meant; since he painted his landscapes outdoors. The bright colours are extremely inspirational and instill in me a sense of Canadian pride.

AGO

My favorite piece in AGO is the paintings that did by Lawren Harris, that shows on the second floor. I personally love this style of painting, which is not really realistic, when I look into the painting it gives me a lot of inspiration and new ideas. I am so happy that AGO finally finish renovating even though, some parts are still not open. I am so going to AGO more often then last year! How can I not to there to get more ideas and most importantly its FREE for OCAD student!

AGO Makeover!!

Ever since being a design student at OCAD, whenever I enter any building I feel like a professional design critic and start analyzing every element in the space; whether it works or not (lighting, furniture, colours, materials, etc.). I really like the transformed AGO. Although the exterior of the building is beautifully designed, I think it is a bit much for Dundas street. It seems to overpower the area, which can be positive or negative, but more negative with that block of Dundas street feeling smaller. The interior seemed to be endless. I didn’t have a favourite exhibit, but I was attracted to the strange seating in the foyer by the striking sculptural staircase. Although I don`t think these chairs really fit in the space well or compliment it in any way, when I sat down I was intrigued because they look like such hard surfaces, yet sitting down I discovered they had a soft cushiony quality to them. I immediately had to tell people they were cushiony. No one was as intrigued as I was, that's when I realized that the chair and I had a special bond.

End of Suburbia- Response

I love documentaries, they are amazing and informative, how they are presented is key to how interesting they will be to watch.

The End of Suburbia is a well organized documentary that made me aware of the impact oil has on our world and the consequences that will occur if and when it runs out. With situations like these it is hard to rely on anyone for answers as to what may happen. This documentary is filled with predictions and scary facts that accompany the oil depletion and collapse of the American Dream. I didn’t realize how much oil affected in our world and how important it is to us as a civilization. Many may have thought that the Northeast Blackout of 2003 that affected an estimated 10 million people (according to wikipedia) was enjoyable. I agree for the simple fact that we rely too much electricity and when that was taken away for a day, wandering the streets was interesting, it forced most of us to come up with an alternative/ substitute activity. In the movie it was mentioned that “we hadn’t learnt anything from the blackout”. This is a strong statement, wrong or right I don’t know, but the fact of the matter is: a greater effort needs to be made with proper consumption of electricity and oil. The many predictions expressed in The End of Suburbia has made me extremely curious and concerned about about what the future holds for us...inform everyone you know about this documentary, make them scared of the future, make them change their ways!

The additional vintage footage in this documentary also made it enjoyable!

Rainwater Collection system in OCAD

Implementing a rainwater collection system on the rooftop of OCAD. 

By using the large surface area on OCAD flat rooftop to collect and store rainwater is a great idea. Using these collected water, OCAD can flush it's toilets and may provide irrigation to vegetation nearby. By using rainwater to flush toilet, OCAD will save a lot of fresh water supply and be able to use it in other areas, or even safe more for the community around OCAD. 

AGO

This is my first time going to the AGO. I've passed by the AGO while underconstruction numerous times, so I presumed it was only and explansion on the exterior front that was renovated. Just as I was walking by the front, passing the AGO shop I saw the Frank Gehry Wiggle Chair, I already knew I was in for something. Walking in the first sight of this wiggling pathway leading to the ticket booth already impressed me. As we enter the building instantly greeted by another really aspiring staircase extruding out of the side of the interior wall was absolutely stunning. Entering the back room, I realize there was a lot of incorporation of wooden beams and wooden flooring in the new renovated areas, in fact much of the newly renovated area are incorporated with wood. The wood created a really beautiful, warmth and organic ambient. It definitely suggested the feel of Canada. 

I must admit I was more impressed by the architecture than the actual gallery itself, although the contemporary had some quite interesting things. The warhol stuff looked pretty interesting. There was a massive cube which looked like fur from afar, but until I step closer than I realize they were steel fillings and the cube was a magnet, creating these really interesting organic pattern, which resembled furlike behavior. Another really cool piece was a sculptur of a man's face stretched vertically like how you can distort images in photoshop. The amazing thign was the artist was able to replicate this with extreme detail, and three dimensionally. I could see each strand of hair and each strand of facial hair. The result was visually stunning, I definitely had my jaw dropped.

AGO is made with organic soy beans

This is one of several Drawing Stations at the AGO, one of the brainchilds of the head designer at the gallery. I wish we had 30-50 of these on every floor at OCAD!

As I sat there revelling in the cozy environment of my own private desk (I hid the second chair so I could hog the whole desk), one of the staff walked by and I hailed her. I asked her about these Drawing Stations and she told me that they were a part of the gallery's new mandate (too strong a word, maybe "philosophy" is better) of public engagement. Galleries are trying to offer a more active experience for the visitor.

There are also future plans to web-ify the gallery, to give the art itself a web presence, so people can have a place to leave comments on those pieces online, maybe even discuss them with other people in the community, including the artists themselves.

She also told me that spaces like the Drawing Stations are designed and assembled by the AGO's in-house design and construction team and the components are fabricated from a modular building system called "kit of parts" which sounds something like Lego. Which means they can erect and take down these Drawing Stations very quickly and put something else in its place, which is sad because I want them to be there permanently as my own secret study spaces. Those restaurant rails rule. I hung up my drawings there while I was brainstorming my lathe project for woodshop.

lets go to the A-G-O! YA

My favorite exhibit at the AGO was "The Urban Trailer". As I was walking around with two other classmates, we came upon this piece at the very end of our journey. It had glowing lights, and a very vibrant exterior that intrigued us to discover it. Upon entry of the trailer, they had a few instructions as to how to experience this exhibit. Inside the trailer you were encouraged to play various mini records and watch black white videos.

It was the most interesting exhibit by far, and one that the user could actually create their own experience much like in the class in year 1, experience design.

 

Improving OCAD

LOCATION: Every studio/working area

ISSUE: Waste of materials/unnecessary manufacturing of materials

PROPOSAL: A bookshelf in every studio/working area where students can put their excess materials or scrap pieces. Other students may browse these bookshelves before purchasing new materials. Similar to wood scraps in the woodshop. Teachers would encourage students to place unused material in these bookshelves as well as breaking down old projects for scraps.

EXECUTION: Asking Student Union for a grant to build these bookshelves.

AGO Transformation

My favourite part of the new AGO would have to be The Galleria Italia. Named after the 26 families of Italian descent, who each donated $500 000, the long and very tall hallway feels like a large canoe, or the inside of a whale. I thought this part was particularly impressive for its grand architecture, environmental works and dedication to Canadian identity. The hallway feels Canadian, without the cliché. The details surrounding the planks of wood are incredible.

I found this article by Sarah Milroy from the Globe and Mail, which I thought was spot on to how I felt about the new AGO.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081114.wago1511/BNStory/transformationago/feature-topic

Green Walls

For our original research area we worked on buildings. We decided to create a "green wall" on the outside of the OCAD building. This project touches upon our individual areas or research, building materials, green roofs and energy efficiency.
Green walls are beneficial in a number or ways. They provide air filtration for the outdoor environment as well as insulation in the winter and cooling in the summer which can help with the buildings energy use for heating and cooling. Green walls are also a nice alternative to the plain brick facade and can provide a more welcoming and visually appealing environment.
Any wall would serve, but we were thinking about the side wall closest to Dundas (where the loading areas is) and the one facing Butterfield Park.
We are going to do further research into materials, budget, the benefits of the "green wall", location and what kind of permission we would need as we go along.

Alexandra, Maxim and Vicenta

{Question? & Solution*} Naturalize Change

Question?
How can all sectors of a community benefit from eachother through sustainability??
translated:
What in nature benefits from each other?? What is the cycle?

Solution*
In nature a forest ecosystem energy can only enter through plants, these plants we call the autotrophs, they range from the trees to the lettuce on our plate. These plants keep all living things alive. Animals like us eat deer that eat the plants and we all benefit. Our waste is then decompsed by bacteria, parasites, invertebrates, mushrooms . These decomposers give back to the autotrophs through the nutrients they release to the soil and the waste from the plants set off bacteria and mushrooms. Throughout this whole process this energy is giving off respiration of oxygen and carbohydrates.

'Energy in a ecosystem cannot be recycled it must constantly be renewed.'



The picture above is what I got from nature, translated. The tree like the sugar maple is my building, the programming is organized like photosynthesis. Whatever 'organic matter' the building gives: ideas, programs, classes, lectures, exhibit will influence the people, the 'heterotrphs'. Our 'waste' from being influenced will then be decomposed by the sectors of society, the elements that will drive sustainable development into the future. Throughout this whole process respiration happens this giving off to the rest of the city and world that Liberty Village or any other communtiy is aware and involved in the process of development and perhaps they will be an example.

This cycle is in the works.......to be cont'd

Rachel De Vries

The New AGO

Walking into the AGO for the first time since the renovation, I was really skeptical that the building was even finished. It seemed like just few days before that it looked like there was a whole piece missing out of the side, and scaffolding was everywhere.
I was very pleasantly surprised though by the building, sure there was a few displays and corners that were not remotely set up yet but the building as a whole seemed relatively complete. This aside from the amazing winding staircase in the center which would have been interesting to walk on, but was not finished being constructed.
My favorite part of the new AGO had to be the gallery that was the long hall following the completely windowed side of the gallery, it was the one gallery that made you really feel and see, and know what kind of a building you were in, it also contained a few very interesting pieces using these huge tree trunks.

AGO

Going to the AGO has been a very good experience. The new architecture is really stunning, with all the wood that gives it a softer and smoother look. My favourite gallery/location was the Galleria Italia for the magnificent glass/wooden beams. The structure of the whole room was well thought of. My favourite piece was by Al Anatsui, entitled Zebra Crossing and it was a patchwork of metal pieces sewn together. The intricacy of the work was seen in all the stitching, and the pattern created was visually attractive and pleasing to the eye.

AGO

My favourite artwork in AGO is the Urban Disco Trailer.
It is located on the 2nd floor, where they displayed other 3D works.
The Urban Disco Trailer is actually a car that has been decorated and looked like it is from the 70s or 80s.
Inside the car, there is a black disc player on top of a counter. And on the right hand side, there is a big mess of black discs from 70s-80s(mostly rock music).
There is also a disco ball hanging on the ceiling.
So basically, people can walk into the car, choose their favourite music and play it loud!

The reason why I like this piece is because there is a huge interaction going on, and I think it will be great if it has a dance floor inside the car.

AGO

I had never been to the AGO before but on my visits over the past year during visits have been seeing the construction that has been done. i really enjoyed the spiral stair case that overlooks OCAD in the back of the museum. I have been to the museum twice in the past week because there is just so much to see. I think my favorite collection was the Thomson collection, mostly the ship models. I really enjoyed this museum and will be going more often!

AGO

I was pleasantly surprised by the new additions, and I actually really liked the glass covered walk along Dundas. I thought it was a really nice space, especially in the evening. Though I wasn’t crazy about the exhibition, I thought it worked well in the space. I thought the winding staircase looked good too, and I’ll be interested to see what it looks like when it’s finished.

AGO 3/4

My favorite part of the AGO are the yellow Home Depot construction lighting for the main stairwell, and the restricted access to the funky stair. I would not have cared to wait for the finished thing. After all, you would not exhibit unfinished art. I hope it's finished properly, and am looking forward to the visiting when it's ready.

My Exploration of the AGO

Our class had the opportunity to visit the AGO last week and I was quite curious to see what they had done inside. As a 'newbie' to Toronto, this was my first time to see the interior and exhibitions of the AGO. From our classroom, we can see the backside of the AGO and I can't say that I was impressed with how the new building was integrated into the old structures. I kept thinking that they would be peeling off the 'blue film' and revealing some amazing finish but the final finish is the blue finish. Also as a design student, I found that the exterior staircase to be an odd shape and didn't integrate well into the building...it looked like someone just stuck it on the side of the building.

I'm a big fan of contemporary art and have visited many museums in North America and Europe to see many different exhibitions. The AGO has their collection of contemporary art on the 4th and 5th floor. I have to say that the collection was under-whelming. I found the gallery space to be quite small relative to other museums that I've been to.

My favorite piece would have to be the piece by Attila Richard Lukacs who is a Canadian artist and a graduate of Emily Carr. I'm a big fan of his work due to the provocative nature of his works. He first appeared on the art scene with his large scale images of homosexuality and skinheads. The AGO has a policy of no photography and I was unable to 'sneak' an image of the actual work...the security guy kept hovering around me. Instead I've chosen to post another piece of Lukacs work to give everyone an idea as to what his work is like.

AGO-my favorite part.......

I went to the AGO on the weekend of its opening. My favorite part was the Ship Collection that was situated under neath the main hall. The collection is apart of Ken Thompson rare artifact collection. I enjoy craftsmanship and models and seeing those ships just blew my mind. The detail in the pulleys, sails and connections of the fibers, ivory and exotic woods. What I gathered from reading the plaques was they were made by French prisoners of war while in captivity by the British. The casing for the ships were there own piece of art, curvilinear glass that creates a space that looks fluid with the ships elevated at different heights. The Douglas fir stairwell was interesting, it renews the classicist space with the warm wood and protrusion through the skylight. It was still under construction when I went but i"ll be back.........
Rachel De Vries

AGO

I didn't really have any expectations going into the new AGO, i think I've only been in once or twice before and i kind of forget what was in it, but i liked what i saw once i was in there and i hope i wont forget about it this time.
My favourite part of the AGO was the contemporary art. There was this one piece that had a house or a boat or some structure sinking in water, but the water frozen in place. you could see all the bubbles and splashing created by the structure hitting the water but it was frozen in time; it was like looking at a three dimensional photograph. i thought that was cool.

The New & Improved AGO

I was pretty skeptical of the AGO re-design by Frank Ghery when I saw the frames being build up to what it is now over time. But after this recent trip to the new and improved AGO I was at peace. I really like the over all re-design of the whole art gallery. I especially loved the new part where you can look over dundas street. It was a pretty amazing experience, especially at night time when the lights are turned on.

assignment 3 project idea [Jandy and Anna]

The idea of our project is removing the black garbage cans in the school and putting more recycling bins around the school. There are VERY FEW recycling bins and  A LOT of black garbage cans. So, even if people have this brief idea that they would like to recycle every time they throw out their garbage, the problem is that the black garbage cans are everywhere and the recycling bins are only at where the elevators are. 

People, including me are lazy. They would not want to walk all the way up to the elevators  to throw out their garbage to recycle. 

Also, at the Butterfield park (the circle area where people sit down and chill) there is only ONE GARBAGE CAN which just encloses recycling idea. 

Therefore, we want to talk to the student union or the OCAD people so they could remove the garbage cans and put more recycling bins inside of the school AND at outside of the school, which helps improving the image of school, so recycle bins are the only way to throw out the garbage.

favourite part of AGO

My favourite part of AGO was the Canadian painting art section.

The room was full of paintings and before you enter the room, there is a little staircase on the left side so you can go upstairs and see the room with the upper view. 

Personally, i just love paintings and that view from the small room and having upper clear view of the painting room was very peaceful because  it stopped from getting distracted from a lot of noise or the light that reflected on the paintings. 

aleks djokic favourite ago piece

My favorite piece at the AGO was the "Urban Trailer" installation. It was this trailer where you could enter inside and it had seats at the sides and a TV in the middle and a fisher price record player in the corner. It had 100's of mini records that you could put inside the record player and play. It also had a a very 60's feel to it because of the decorations in the interior which included a disco ball.

On another note, I really liked the giant tree scultpures that were located near the glass facade of the building, they were massive and very striking because they werent actual trees, they were made of some sort of material.

AGO! Ashley James

So on Wednesday we had our class trip the the AGO. After hearing that the renovation was designed by Frank Gehry I was really excited to see the finished product. After walking through all the gallery's and looking at all the the different art pieces, I found that I was more interested in the building it self as opposed to anything else. My favorite space was the 'Galleria Italia' which is located on the second floor. It was so open and spacious. It was the only part that really Incorporated natural lighting which I love. I guess that explains why I am in the Environmental Design program as opposed to art. I must admit there were some interesting pieces but I have to say the gallery, 'Galleria Italia' is a space that draws you to it. Overall I had a really great time and plan on making many more trips to look at anything that I may have missed this time.

Responce to 'End of Surburbia' Ashley James

I found many of the comments and predictions in this documentary to be quite interesting as well as eye opening. As it was stated in the documentary suburbia was created to escape the industrial life of the city. It was noisy, polluted, congested and filled with slums. Suburbia was created as a utopia, as an escape for the middle class to upper class families. What about the lower class families? Yes, as we can all guess they were (unfortunately, as always) left behind. One thing that I found interesting is that there was a train that used to connect suburbia to downtown. However, it was bought out by various car dealerships so that people would be forced to purchase cars as it was the only way to get to work, as the majority of people living in the suburbs work downtown. Now, with the oil peak and gas prices raising so high that people can no longer afford to drive a car, what will happen? How will people get to work? The documentary also opened my eyes as to how much we rely on oil, so much so that if it were to run out our lifestyles would have to change drastically. What I find scary is that hardly anyone realizes what this means or that it is even going on. People are still purchasing homes further and further north, replacing much needed farm land. When the oil runs out they stated that everyone will move back downtown as everything is in walking distance. What I find scary about this is how will everyone fit. Do the lower class families get displaced again? Left behind again? Because my bet is that is exactly what will happen. I feel that this documentary is one that is worth watching. people need to realize what is going on in the world around them so that they can start making wise decisions that will not only benefit themselves but other people and the environment as well. We need to stop relying on oil and find other ways to live.

Assignment # 3 - Research Ashley James

Hello Class,

For assignment #3 I was part of group 1 which was responsible for buildings. My group consisted of Veronica who was responsible for building materials, Amy who focused on coverings and roofs and lastly David who researched energy saving and footprints. As a group our objective was to obtain as much information as we could pertaining to sustainable buildings and the general techniques and practices used by them. I took it upon my self to research exactly what defines a building as sustainable as well as what types of lighting and windows can be found in such architecture and lastly I researched examples of sustainable buildings that can be found all over the world. Whilst gathering information from books, the Internet, magazines and newspaper articles I was surprised to learn exactly what sustainable building is. Before this assignment I thought the use of a solar panel made a building sustainable and in fact this is not so. Sustainable building is the practice of increasing a buildings overall efficiency. Not only does it take into account how the building uses resources such as energy water and materials, but it also strives to reduce the buildings impact on the environment as well as on our human health. In regards to lighting I found that the number one choice for lighting is natural lighting. Not only is natural light a free renewal source but it also generates no waste or pollution and has well documented health benefits. I discovered a new technology used for natural lighting called Sunlight Transportation Systems. This is where the sun is collected on roof solar panels and transported in to a building using fiber optic cables. In regards to electric lighting the best choice is either compact fluorescent lighting or LED's. In regards to windows, Generally larger windows are used and placed on the south side of the building to obtain as much heat and light as possible. They are also double or triple glazed insulated windows which are better insulators as opposed to single pain glass windows. Above is an image the the Restoration Services Centre which is an example of a sustainable building located in Vaughn Ontario. It puts into practice many of the techniques used to make a building sustainable.

A Greener Environment at OCAD

the LOCATION: 5th floor common area where students spend many hours working from dawn till dusk

the ISSUE: poor indoor air quality, no fresh air entering, windows do no open

the PROPOSAL: the addition of green plants that recycle and purify the air= a better work environment for us

what needs to be DONE: a committee of students is formed to take care of the plants. and perhaps do annual plant trades, herbs, etc. community building

the possibilities to making it REAL: student union offers grants to those who submit viable proposals.

Interior Environments

Coming into class today our original idea was to create a campaign of posters to display around the school on keeping your workspace clean, and maintaining an overall adequate indoor atmosphere to feel clean, safe, and comfortable to work in.

After a major re-thinking and assessing our original idea, we have come up with a re-design proposal idea. As students, particularly in the 2-D streams of design, we spend a lot of time in the large workspace on the 6th floor of the O.C.A.D. Sharp building, working on our computer, eating, gluing, cutting, mounting, sketching, and often doing all these things at the same time, in the same area.

We plan on coming up with a new overall organization for the layout of this workspace. Possibly creating sectioned areas to complete specific tasks such as mounting and glueing, and other areas where students are working on their computers and sketching.

Also we hope to incorporate the idea of the "plant wall", seen here implemented at the University of Guelph, possibly to section of the different "areas" on a little bit off a smaller scale than the wall at Guelph.

We plan on taking even more in depth observations and research once we further work on this new idea.

Mariz, Alex, Daren, & Joe

Assignment 3: Community Amenities- Urban Agriculture

My group consisted of Kaidy, Yigi, Brett and myself. We focused on community amenities and I specifically focused on urban agriculture. Urban Agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in, or around a village, town or city. Urban agriculture is often
described as bringing the farm into the city.

There are multiple options when deciding to practise urban agriculture. A community garden is one example of urban agriculture. Community gardens provide access to fresh produce and plants as well as access to satisfying labor, neighborhood improvement, sense of community and connection to the environment.

Setting up a small garden in the front or back yard is another option that can provide you daily with healthy vegetable and herbs.

Another option to urban agriculture is a green roof. Though it is a more elaborate and expensive option, a green roof can provide a healthy bed of soil to grow all sorts of food on. Green roofs also act as an insulator and thus will reduce your energy consumption. Intensive green roofs can be a great place to relax on a lunch break allowing people to escape the busyness of the city for an hour

An example of a community garden in Vancouver

An interesting intensive green roof in NYC

The benefits of urban farming are numerous. Locally grown food have less environmental impacts then food shipped from other parts of the wordl. Urban Agriculture allows us to get a better understanding of our food and gives us a sense of control over its safety and security. Also Urban Agriculture gives us the opportunity to teach today`s youth about food and the earth. There are also health benefits, as urban farms are usually free of the harmful pesticides and fertilizers that most large commercial farms use. Finally, urban agriculture such as a community gardenening provides a space for leisure and socializing. Many believe home grown food tastes better, and those who practice urban farming say it gives them a feeling of personal satisfaction.

An example of a city that recognizes the importance of urban agriculture is Vancouver. In 2006, Vancouver City Councillors issued a challenge to individuals, families, community groups and neighbourhood organizations to establish more food-producing gardens in Vancouver.
Their goal was to have 2010 new garden plots by 2010.

an example of a backyard garden plot

Access of subways over the world - Stephanie

Our group did the research on transit.
My part of the research was mostly about access and traffic.

Here are some examples of best practicing:

London Underground
Travelcard
- can be used on Tube, Docklands Light Railway(DLR), London Overground and some National Rail services









Oyster Card
- valid on a number of different travel syste,s including London Underground, DLR, Overground, etc
- stored-value: pay as you go
- aim for the card: charges the lowest fare; if it doesn't, refund the difference is possible









The Paris Métro /Métropolitai, Métro de Paris
Navigo pass
- a smart card with he Calypso system
- enable authenticated access at turnstiles by waving card near an electronic reader
can be reloaded monthly or weekly









Tokyo Metro
PASMO card
- a prepaid transportation card that contains an integrated-circuit(IC) chip
- allowing the user to enter the subway by simply swiping the card over a PASMO reader located on the ticket gates
- the card is recgargeable and can be used over and over
- can be also used interchangeably with the East Japan Railway Co.'s (JR) Suica card









Seoul Metropolitan Subway
Seoul City Pass and Seoul City Pass Plus (For Tourists Only)
- a card that allows tourists to use the buses and subways up to 20 times a day
- can be used for the Seoul City Tour Buses, which run past all the major palaces, tourist sights and shopping areas in the city
- (Seoul City Pass Plus Only)can pay for taxis, buy products from vending machines, access the internet and even buy products from some well known stores in Seoul




















Metro Pass
- is valid for 60 times within the 30 days from the day of recharge
- can only be used on subways (applies to all sections of wide area and metropolitan subways)











New York City Transit
MetroCard: Unlimited Ride MetroCard & Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard Unlimited Ride MetroCard:
- the more you ride, the less each ride costs
- all free transfers included
- no refills, you have to get a new card every time you buy one
- can only be used by one person at a time
- cannot be used again at the same station or same bus route for 18 minutes









Mass Transit Railway – MTR (Hong Kong) Octopus Card
- a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card used to transfer electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong
- also used for payment at convenience stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, on-street parking meters, car parks, and other point-of-sale applications such as service stations and vending machines
- has been internationally recognized, winning the Chairman’s Award of the World information Technology and Services Alliance’s 2006 Global IT Excellence Award for being the world’s leading complex automatic fare collection and contactless smartcard payment system
- some school use octopus card to do attendance at the school entrance









All these examples have been introduced and used widely in the countries for at least 4-5 years.
By the time I was doing research on TTC, I saw they have a promise to introduce a contactless card for access in winter 2007. But I do not see it anywhere in the site now, I think they have taken it off because they broke the promise.

Katherine Chu- Exterior: Garden & Ambience

The area that my group is doing is the exterior environments. The area that I am going to discuss are the gardens and ambiance.

Due to the reality of climate change people want to have a greener environment and cities to live in, as well as slow down global warming. One of the world's greenest cities is Chicago. Fifteen years ago, Chicago had started transforming themselves into a environmentally friendly city. In order to achieve the goal, Chicago has created a Green Building Agenda that carries out a new direction to the design, construction, and operation of public buildings that help to create healthy, high quality structures, which is environmentally responsible. This action will help improve occupants' health and lower the number of resources being used to build and maintain the building. In order to build up an ambience of‘green’ in the city, they have moved the garden from the ground to the roof. A green roof is a veneer landscape over the traditional roof, it contains plants and soil and other medium to helps insulate, reduce heat and retain storm water.

Here is the link that show how the Chicago green roof look likes.

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=u4i4woSrYIY

Other than the green roof used create the atmosphere of ‘green’, the café also helps to create a greener city. Most of cafés in Chicago have open eating areas that are called sidewalk cafes, it makes the street have a more cordial ambience. People on the street can see people having wonderful meals and carrying casual conversations, while on the flip side the people who are eating are not embarrass to let people see them having meals. This creates a feeling of being at home while you are on the street, it is because you wouldn't mind your family seeing the way you eat or sit, since you have a special relationship with them. So neither the people on the street or in the café, will mind seeing each other, this is because the open area creates a borderless ambience where every person on the street is treated as family. In addition, many of the sidewalk cafés have no parking spaces beside them, since the cars are off the street it forces people to walk and drive less.

I am doing the research on exterior environments, and the parts that I have to research are paving, sidewalk and cross walk. I do the research on the city of chicago, the greenest city in North America. In Chicago, the government provide a very nice environment for people to get out and use the public space. Such as they will have a program called sidewalk cafe, which is to let the restaurant to extend their place outside to the sidewalk, to let costumer sit outside the restaurant and enjoy the weather. Therefore it will make a great use of the sidewalk. And for the cross walk, I find in Japan there is a very smart way to save up people time. I found a video on youtube that shows how smart the cross walk works for people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGKnGthGK4M

SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS- V.A.D.A

hey everyone,
my group and i (Ashley, Amy & David) did our research assignment on sustainable buildings. Each focusing on a different topic: Ashley did lighting and ventilation, Amy did coverings and roofs, David did energy saving and the overall footprint of a building....which you will find astonishing!! And i did building materials and paint.

I fell in love with a website that has an endless amount of pretty interesting stuff from architecture, furniture, fashion and more. The green buildings from this website are amazing: www.inhabitat.com. ----check it out

I also found another site that was more catered to my topic. It was a sustainable materials website by a company called Ecolect, their company name is actually two words that are merged into one: ecology and intellect, cool eh? What they do is provide architects and designers with only materials that have sustainable attributes, helping designers to discover, locate and use green materials more easily. Its really helpful because they have images for each material. This site also has a blog for green discussions and posted articles about recent environmental and sustainability issues. One such article discusses an eco- materials nutrition label, that inform the purchaser the sustainable qualitative and quantatative data in that particular product.

Getting back to materials...

historically buildings were inspired by natural elements and therefore nature's materials were used. A lot was taken into consideration when selecting materials for construction like the orientation of a building or the region it will be located in, as the climate is a large factor when making the right decision about materials. Many other factors play a huge role on the materials of a building....I'll leave that for a discussion in class.

It was hard choosing what picture to post because there are so many amazing green buildings out there and newer proposals that offer even better solutions to our building problems.


Anyways, I chose to post a picture of the Gherkin Building located in London designed by Norman Foster. It has recently begun testing an innovative vegetated facade panel. Now I know in class we've briefly disscussed green walls and whether we think they're going to be successful or not and this building clearly demonstrates a success. This new “Green wall” product, known as the Core Hydraulic Integrated Arboury panel, promises to bring the benefits of green roofs to any exterior surface of skyscraper. As we've mentioned in class skyscrapers get the most sunlight of any building and we've deemed that wasted sunlight....unless they're made of green!!!

Words stolen from the site: The panel works by obtaining moisture through the air and funneling through its specialized membrane properties allowing it to provide for enough water to allow for plant growth. The plants, mostly a mixture of lichens and grasses are expected to grow out of the panel and envelope the facade. Needless to say the benefits of the panels are many: Shading, increased internal daylighting, thermal insulation, reduced water consumption, energy generation for the entire building, recycling of materials, reduction of toxicity in the interior spaces, acceptance of the Kyoto treaty by the countries which have yet to sign, world peace, and a rise in property rental income.

....just in case you guys were REALLY curious how it worked. There is just too much information about sustainability because it is just the hottest topic today....if my eyes weren't closing right now I'd write you all a beautiful story of the materials I've discovered along with all the interesting buildings.

P.S. look forward to our presentation because theres some strange paint that you must know about

VERONICA

....just a couple more

1. Bahrain World Trade Centre
2. Orquiderorama: sustainable botanical garden
3. Schwimmhaus

Problems

too many flowers---bee and bug
too much pollen---hay fever
trees---poor condition

Biking in Toronto

Bike sharing: Free or low cost bicycles that can be rented for a set amount of time from various stations in or around a city or area.

Increased biking would help Toronto by reducing traffic congestion, reducing smog, and making Toronto a friendlier place to be! yay!
Bike problems in Toronto:
Theft: 7000 bikes are stolen in Toronto each year, making it the city with the highest bike theft per capita in the world.
http://community.livejournal.com/dirtydawgs/28898.html <- here is a good article about bike theft in our city
We propose the re-instigation of the Bikeshare program, but with a few changes. We think the Call a Bike system, which is in operation in Germany and also parts of England would be the most appropriate for Toronto
Here is a short video explaining how it works.
http://nextbike.de/en#video
This way the bike share will not rely on funding from the city, which was its downfall last time. Money could be raised through advertising, or local businesses would sponsor bikes in exchange for advertising and the chance to show their green-ness.

Indoor enviornments- sustainable furniture, paints/finishes, indoor plants, and efficient lighting

FURNITURE

What makes furniture environmentally responsible?
• single material
• abundant materials
• recyclable
• renewable materials
• native materials
• design for easy maintenance
• low-engergy production
• avoidance of toxic substances
• reduced engergy during transport
• designed for disassembly
• multifunctional
• universal design

Here are some examples of works done today:


Garden bench by Jurgen Bay for Droog, Netherlands. Taking waste from the garden indoors to create furniture. This is more of a conceptual piece, one offs are made.
Designed by architect Shirgeru Ban, Japan. All his structures are made of cardboard, simple, recyclable and beautiful.
Stokke Tripp Trapp by Peter Opsvik, Norway. Adjustable to suit baby to youth.


PAINTS AND FINISHES

What makes paints/ finishes eco friendly?
• non toxic ingredients (solvents, VOCs, biocides, preservatives)
• clean production
• use of natural materials (such as beeswax, orange peel, pine tree resin, seed oil, earth pigments)
• renewable materials
• reduce pollution manufacturing
• recyclable packaging
• reduction in embodied energy
• recycled paint



INDOOR PLANTS

What are the benefits of indoor plants?
• reduce indoor air pollution
• natural air purfier
• absorbs carbon dioxide, releases oxygen
• creates a relaxing indoor space

Here are two examples of indoor green space in Toronto

Bio-wall, Robertson Building- 215 Spadina Avenue. Installed 250 square foot bio wall in March 2004


Cellular and Biomolecular building at , University of Toronto



LIGHTING

What defines energy efficient lighting?
• reduce wattage
• proper disposal available to consumer
• ease of recycling materials
• longer lasting bulbs
• suitable luminance for type of activity

2 Most popular and up coming choices of today are :
CFL-operate on 9 to 25 watts of energy while emitting the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb . Its life span is more than 10 times longer that the traditional bulb. CFLs produce ultraviolet light, made visible through phosphor coating on the glass.
LEDs- convert electric energy directly into light of a single color. Because they employ “cold” light generation technology, in which most of the energy is delivered in the visible spectrum, LEDs don't waste energy in the form of non-light producing heat.

Recycle & Waste - Jandy & Anna

Recycle means obtaining new products after dismantling and reprocessing old ones. This includes composting, in which organic discards are decomposed into soil conditioner.
Recycling is attractive because it can conserve materials, possibly consume less energy, and be less costly than production from virgin materials. Recycling conserves materials by using discarded products as feedstock for manufacturing. If the discarded products can be collected, transported, and reprocessed with less energy and at lower cost than it takes to extract, preprocess, transport, and manufacture from virgin materials, then recycling can save energy and be efficient.

Interior Environments: Indoor Air Pollution (Alex, Daren, Joe, Mariz)

As Canadians, we spent 90% of your time inside, whether it be at home, at work or in recreational facilities, so keeping the inside clean of potential air pollutants is very important. Indoor air pollution can come from things such as solid fuel, cleaning products and paint, a large part of the problem is due to V.O.C. or Volatile Organic Compounds, which are particles that are released from products like paint and cleaners. These particles can pollute the air both inside and outside your homes. The link below shows a chart that measures the indoor air quality of countries from all over the world; 0.0 being the best indoor air quality and 100.0 being the poorest. We've noticed that the third world countries such as Haiti and Sudan have very good indoor air quality whereas countries such as Canada, The U.S. and Taiwan have among the poorest of indoor air quality. We believe this is so due to the difference in materials available between the third and first world countries.

Link: http://epi.yale.edu/IndoorAirPollution

TTC Buses

For my portion of the Transit topic, I took a look at TTC buses and the efforts being made to reduce emissions in recent years. Using my research, I made a point-form timeline of notable events in this process:

April 2005
• TTC orders 330 transit busses from Orion Bus Industries, 150 of which are diesel-electric 40-foot hybrid buses, to be delivered in 2006.
• These hybrid busses are to offer better performance, significant emissions reductions and fuel savings.
• The HybriDrive propulsion system by BAE Systems propels the bus with a single electric motor, powered by a diesel-driven generator and an energy storage unit.
• The HybriDrive system uses a smaller engine than conventional buses.
• Quicker acceleration.
• Eliminates the transmission, which is typically high maintenance in stop-and-go traffic. A regenerative braking system uses the drive motor to slow down the bus, effectively turning the motor into a generator to recharge the energy storage system.
• These busses had already been tested out in New York, and more are coming.
• The long-term effects should end up saving money, due to cheaper maintenance, fuel efficiency, and quietness.

More Benefits From the New Hybrid Buses:
• 37% less greenhouse emissions.
• 36.3 tonnes less carbon dioxide per bus each year
• 30-50% less nitrous oxide emissions
• 30-50% less soot particulates
• 20-30% less fuel consumption

April 2006
• The first of the new hybrid TTC buses by Orion arrive.
• The buses cost about 50% more than regular diesel buses, totaling $112 million for 150 buses, covered by the City of Toronto, the province and Ottawa.

March 2008
• Ottawa gives the TTC $303.5 million to buy nearly 694 hybrid buses, 270 of which are already up and running.

Despite these efforts, within recent weeks it was uncovered that this hybrid technology is not working nearly as well as projected. After ordering 130 new hybrid buses for next year, the TTC realized the batteries in the current buses on the streets only have been lasting 18 months – short of the five-year projected expectancy. The TTC also found the fuel savings on the current hybrid buses are only 1/3 of what was projected. Regrets about the decision to go hybrid have prompted the TTC to return to buying "clean" diesel buses in 2010. Nobody is sure yet what is causing the problems with the hybrid buses, but the TTC is considering ordering diesels from New Flyer instead. However, it’s unclear what the switch back would cost because the federal government funding for the current buses stipulates hybrids only, not diesels.

Transit -Pod Car

i did my research on transit. however, found a really interesting new transportting system that i wanted to focus on talking about. According to the CNN article that i've found "The thought of a driverless, computer-guided car transporting people where they want to go on demand is a futuristic notion to some" is the idea of a pod car.

Each pod car carries 2-10 passengers at a time, but also giving the freedom and privacy to their car is something that unlikely alike to any other public transportations out there. The creator of the car described it as " an elevator but only its moving horizontally."

In terms of the concept, it may sounds as fascinating as it should be. But It's actually yet another great design for life product. Because it not only reduces the use of fossil fuels, the traffic congestion but it's also safer than automobile travel.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/10/13/podcar.city.ap/

Marissa Chiesa-Garbage

Recycling is a process of taking used materials and creating new products, to reduce the amount of garbage and waste. Recycling reduces the use of fresh raw materials and reduces the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills.  In the 1980's  Toronto produced 3.2 million tones of garbage annually. That amount has lowered considerably since then, considering our population has grown considerably." It  is expected that Toronto will send a million tones of garbage to michigan this year" (Terri Coles).  According to Moira Welsh, 75  trucks  full of garbage are transported each day to michigan landfill Toronto , Durham and York region have reached an agreement to end shipping in 2o10. They are afraid that this will cause even more pollution, due to the fact that 65 garbage trucks per day will travel down the 401. This will happen unless Toronto reachers its goals of 70 % recycling by the year 2021, if not the landfill will be full in 16 years.  Germany has been doing very well when it comes to their garbage.  They have set up a program called the Green Dot. It is not a recycling symbol but a symbol for the contribution to a national packaging recovery company. The Green Dot Program costs over 2.5 billion a year. Unlike Toronto Germany and the green dot have a special sorting system. Paper products go into the blue bins for recycling, Aluminum cans, plastics and other products go in the yellow bin. Kitchen scraps such as banana peels, and scraps go in the brown bins. This can turn into energy form the fermenting gases. Finally household products that will not decompose go into the grey bins to get incinerated. 

Recycling Water

I did my research on recycling water. As our population grows, there are more pressure on the fresh water supply. One of the solution to solve this challenge is to recycle and reuse our grey water. Countries like Australia is currently the leader of this movement. Australia suffers drought and will continue do so for the next 7 - 10 years, thus they implemented a 2.5 billion dollar project to build some of the world most advance water treatment plant. These water treatment plant will draw existing treated water from water filtration plant and resupply to the local region. Other places like California are recycling their water, treating it through filtration and disinfectant to use for irrigating publick parks, and using it for flushing water in public areas. 

Although there are many advantages in recycling water, there are still many issue concerning the safety of using these water. Many cities, consider reclaimed water undrinkable, many chemicals, parasites and bacteria are unable to be removed from the filtration and chlorination processes. 

Another way of recycling water is harvesting and collecting rain water. This method is very useful in urban areas, where water is collected to be used in everyday household activities. At the same time, contaminates might contaminate the water, bird feces, urban pollution particles and mosses may contaminate the water.

Recycling water is a great solution as our population and city continue to grow, our fresh water supply will always be in strain, therefore reusing our water is very important.

Recycling: Electronic Waste

Electronic waste is a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic device. 20 to 50 billion tons of electronic waste is generated globally. China, India and Nigeria are considered the most popular dumping grounds for E-Waste. Market for E-Waste is expected to top $11 billion by the end of 2009 and therefore it's lucrative to dump on the developing world.


Many components considered toxic and not biodegradable (lead, mercury, cadmium) but computers are also a source of highly valuable metals like gold, copper and aluminum. One ton of computer scrap contains more gold than 17 tons of gold ore. Circuit boards can be 40 times richer in copper than typical copper ore.

Source: www.foreignpolicy.com

Grey Water

Grey Water is a non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic processes such as dish washing, laundry and bathing. It comprises 50-80% of residential wastewater. Wastewater is generated from all of the house's sanitation equipment except for the toilets, water from the toilet is considered blackwater.

There are three ways of reusing greywater:

• Manual bucketing – small quantities of greywater are captured in a bucket for re-use outside on gardens or lawns. No council approval required.
• Diversion – greywater diversion devices redirect greywater for use outside the home on gardens or lawns using sub-surface irrigation. No council approval required under certain conditions. Needs a plumber to install.
• Treatment – greywater treatment systems for reuse inside the home (e.g., toilet flushing, washing machine) as well as outside on gardens or lawns. Council approval is required. Needs a plumber to install.

Energy by Group #4 (Steven, Leo & Guia)

Energy sources:
1. Fossil Fuels - involves burning of coal or hydrocarbon fuels, extremely inefficient and non-renewable
2. Nuclear Energy - uses nuclear fission to generate energy, reduces carbon emission although the radioactive waste might cost contamination
3. Nuclear Fusion - Not yet fully developed

Examples of renewable resources
- Biomass, bio-fuels, & vegetable oils
- Geothermal, Hydroelectric energy
- Solar & Tidal power generation

Renewable energy can be defined as the energy that is obtained through natural resources such as the sun, waves, water, wind, etc. The advantage of using these kinds of energy is that they are available almost everywhere, and can be replenished easily. They are in most of the cases unlimited and produce a lot less pollution than fossil fuels. Examples of where such renewable energies are being used efficiently are Sweden, where the goal is to eliminate all dependence on oil as by 2020; Samso island where wind farms produce more energy than they use in the island; Japan and Germany, where solar panels are getting really popular, etc. Renewable energy have a lot more advantages as they also constitute a permanent source of energy and their price will only get lower as technology advances.

As for energy efficient heating & cooling practices, our trip to the MEC provided us with a few of the many benefits of the green roofs. Basically, the ground/soil functions as a shade from the sun's heat during the summer, (thus spending less on air conditioning systems) and as an insulation from the cold during winter (hence less heating needed). Not to mention the plants used in this small ecosystem are all native to Canada and are self-sustainable requiring very little maintenance. In addition, the practice of 'daylighting' (building windows or skylights), also helps reduce the need for artificial lighting. The use of occupancy sensors that control lights (see OCAD's yellow staircase) are also a great way of cutting energy costs regarding lighting.

Community-Naturalize Change

Hey Guys, Here's a little diagram to show the concept of my thesis. Using photosynthesis as a model, this breaks it up easy to layout ideas. For think tank I will be focusing on the 'H2O' part. This 'H20' is how the community is involved with the progress of sustainable development or the 'Naturalize Change'. I have been looking at a framework called the Natural Step, it seems to be working for countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, USA, and even here in Canada. Check it out: http://www.thenaturalstep.org//
In a sustainable society, human needs are met fairly and efficiently, and basic needs are met first before provision of luxuries.
condition #4
As a tree roots store nutrients and gather water, a community will work similar, gathering materials and ideas for the building. Showing these ideas through the programming and innovative ideas of dealing with energy, waste and our own footprint. This building within its community will work not alone but as the Natural Step calls it, Eco-Municipality; working amongst diverse groups that share the area.

Rachel De Vries

Assigment #3 Buildings/Energy Efficiency

I did my research on Buildings and energy efficiency. The building sector is one of the heaviest consumers of energy and they produce 40% of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions. That's why dealing with the issue is an important step in sustainability and dealing with global warming. What I found most interesting while researching was the possibilities passive solar energy can bring to the problem of energy use in heating and lighting.
An example of best practice that I found was Council House 2 in Melbourne, Australia. It currently consumes close to zero net energy. Among other things, It generates it's own energy through roof mounted solar panels and wind turbines, and also takes advantage of passive solar energy through it's structural design.
This is a picture of the facade of council house 2 which is equipped with shutters that move according to the position of the sun and are powered by the solar panels on the roof.

Assignment #3 Green Roof!

My research was on roofs and paints. I found a green roofs to be the most interesting one. A good example of a working Retrofit green roof is 401 Richmond Street. Retrofit is usually the garden type of roof that allows anyone to enjoy the scenery. Although it does take some maintenance, it saves about 20 percent or more on energy cost. There are many more benefits of green roofs, such as quality of air, insulation, more green space, possible local food production, the list goes on. Here is a picture of the Green rooftop on 410 Richmond.

Assignment #3 Energy (Haomin, Kaylyn, Serah, Aleks)

There are generally ten types of energy: Fossil Fuel, Nuclear Power, Solar Power, Wind Power, Tidal Power, Hydroelectric Power, Pumped Storage, Wave Power, Geothermal Power and Biomass. Three major sources of energy are used in Ontario - Fossil fuel, Nuclear Power, and Hydroelectric. Of the non-renewable energy sources, Nuclear power is a lot more environmentally friendly than Fossil Fuel as it doesn't emit greenhouse gas. Although, the radio active waste produced is a huge concern to safety and the environment.

Of the renewable energy sources, currently Japan plans to use biomass to help improve their environment, and both San Francisco and Dubai are harvesting Solar Energy to aid their environmental efforts.

For heating and cooling, Geothermal energy seemed sound for keeping indoor environment comfortable, and be a great resource that does not damage the environment. Using Solar energy to heat water indoors will both save money and the environment.

FCL, florescent compact lighting, is very sound for the environment using less electricity and running longer. This helps to keep a lot of the greenhouse emissions from the fossil power plants from entering into the environment.

OCAD Green Exchange this week

Green Exchange
October 22 & 23, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
In conjunction with Waste Reduction Week, OCAD's Sustainability Task Force invites OCAD students, faculty and staff to exchange or recycle outdated electronics. Many people have the knowledge, but do not have the means to properly recycle technology. Over the course of two days, the OCAD community can bring in outdated electronics and either leave it for another person to reuse or to have it properly recycled. Drop off old mobile phones, computers and related items (including peripherals like keyboards, mice, cables, monitors, printers, PDAs etc.), old TVs, VCRs or other entertainment devices, as well as old batteries and printer cartridges. What can be reused will be salvaged by those that want it, while non-salvageable will be collected by GreenTec for proper dismantlement, salvage, recycling and disposal. Read more in the Events Calendar link in the post title...

Nuit Blanche

One of the shows I enjoyed a lot in Nuit Blanche was the little concert in ROM. The band was called Dr Draw. In the band, they had an electric violin player, an electric guitarist, an electric harp player, a keyboard player and a drummer. They played amazing electric orchestra music.

My friend and I didn't plan to watch this show but we were all attracted by the beautiful music on our way out of ROM. So we headed back in and stayed for another 1/2 hour watching the concert.
Although I have spent 6 more hours on the streets watching other art shows after, I found that this show was the only one amazed me in the night.

Nuit Blanche

I apologize for the late post since I couldnt find my Nuit Blanche pictures. Anyway, most of my night was spent waiting for friends to show up at the rendezvous point. However, I did get to experience one exhibit called House of Leaves near the Ryerson student centre. It was an homage to the book by the same title and, having read the book, I wanted to check it out. There was a long line up to what turned out to be an alley with both walls covered with pages from a book (not the same book). I must say it was rather disappointing. I saw the bicycle/pictureshow beside the AGO which was pretty cool and missed the Zombie event which I was dying to see. Despite the lack of visited exhibits, just the time spent walking and chatting with my friends was satisfying enough.

Leo @ Nuit Blanche

Newie Blondes

Although i didn't have a camera i went out.

One of my faves was also Sasha's fave. However, I thought that the flag was soaked in blood. And I could've sworn the woman was in a white dress and that the flag was a white surrender flag with patches of red. Maybe it's a different one. Was there a pig's head on the street that people were invited to kick around? In this case, there may be a reference to Orwell's Animal Farm and thus the flag may indicate the FALL rather than the rise of communism.

Another one was in Liberty Village, an old house with stuff out front that looked like a yard sale was taking place. Except that coming out of the 2nd floor window was a waterfall! No joke ppl and no I do not do drugs!

For the kids (though I don't know of any parents who'd let their kids wander the streets at 4am in the morning) one fave would have to be the huge colour-by-numbers mural that you could walk up to and paint a bit of it.

This was my 1st encounter with this event and i will definitely go again tonight.

My favourite experience at nuit blanche was a performance piece i saw in zone c. I interpreted the performance as a depiction of distopian society to which there had been huge devastation and war. I also believe they were attempting to portray the rise of communism. This was my favourite experience because it did a fantastic job at submerging the viewer into an atmospher so that you feel like you become a part of the experience.