In 2010, a group of ten students who were compet-ing in the Solar Decathlon decided to expand their efforts beyond just building solar-powered homes. This group of architects, engineers, and student lead-ers were curious about all the aspects of sustainability: economic impacts, social interactions, and resource conservation to name a few. After having carefully considered how they could shift the sustainability research paradigm, Solar Decathlon Team morphedinto Cornell University Sustainable Design. CUSD

The CornellTech Initiatives team works directly with managers at Cornell Facilities and industry consultants from New York City on the new applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island. Our team gives students the opportunity to make history, build a new campus for Cornell in NYC and work alongside professionals in the field. We collaborate on several feasibility studies including geothermal, wind and LEED Neighborhood Development. In past semesters, we have completed lighting, solar and energy modeling studies. Our team is made up of 30 students and a dozen faculty and staff advisors.

CUSD undertook the Sustainable Neighborhoods Nicaragua (SNN) project to address the hous-ing problems faced by the people of Nicaragua: nearly 2 out of 3 Nicaraguans live in sub-standardhousing. After completing a semester of research, a site visit to a sustainable village in Mexico, a visit to a village in rural Nicaragua, and a semester of design in fall 2012, the construction broke ground in January 2013 on a model home. The house has been completed and put to use as a model for sustainable housing for rural Nicaraguan villages.

started with two ambitious projects: the develoment of a Sustainability Research Facility on Cornell’s campus, and the Schoolhouse: South Af-rica project. Since then, CUSD has developed mul-tiple programs addressing the various facets of sustainability. These include Sustainable Neighbor-hoods Nicaragua, Cornell NYCTech, Beebe Lake Redevelopment, Independent Research, Fiber Optic Lighting, Farm Pond, and the newest addition, Haiti.

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homeowner or apartment user. They developed an interior planting system that cleans gray water while growing vegetables and ornamental plants.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCHIndependent Research is constituted by a conglomeration of small projects that is doing nov-el work in the spheres of design, development, and innovation. Projects include the Green Building Metrics, which is working to evaluate existing green building and product metrics systems and form a framework for an improved and innovative metric. Another is the Anaerobic Digestion team which has been analyzing methane production from the digestion of Cornell dining compost. The team assembled a plug flow and continuous stirred reactor and analyzed pre-consumer food waste from Appel Commons. The team also collaborates on the Ithaca wastewater treatment plant’s compost diges-tion project, putting the plant on a path to energy in-dependence. The Interior Vegetated Filtration System group has taken on the challenge of producing clean water while supporting agriculture for an individual

CUSD is working with several organizations and student initiatives to design a rehabilitated Japes Lodge on Beebe Lake. Our interdisciplinary team is considering all aspects of the design, including architecture, interior, structure, and landscaping. Our team will complete an analysis of Beebe Lake and its

BEEBE LAKE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTsurroundings to determine a building design that will flow naturally with the site. We will consider which technologies can be used to optimize the building de-sign and functionality. This comprehensive project has the potential to change the way the entire Cornell community interacts with natural areas on campus.

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CUSD’s Hybrid Fiber Optic Lighting team was the recipient of a prestigious P3 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year. Utilizing this grant and the unique interdisciplinary skill-sets of CUSD, the team designed a first-of-its-kind lighting system capable of bringing natural sunlight indoors using fiber optics paired with algo-rithmically color-tuned LEDs to create an energy-ef-ficient, dynamic lighting experience that positively impacts human health while promoting circadian rhythm mediation. The system was exhibited on the National Mall in DC, and parts of the research have

spun-off into patent-pending technology and an accompanying startup company called SUNN.

The Farm Pond Circle project is a collaboration be-tween CUSD students and local development com

pany Community Building Works to design and construct a sustainable and affordable residential community in Lansing, NY. Since winter 2013 our student members have been working on the design for two homes, using straw bale constructionmethods, energy efficient heating systems, locally sourced materials, solar panels, and more. These original designs are well on their way towards construction in the spring, and in the meantime our members are learning valuable construction skills on site. FPC aim to raise awareness of environmental issues in residential development, by making household sustainability affordable and accessible.

Like the SSA project, CUSD will once again be working with the second-year architecture studio to design a schoolhouse in Petit Goave, Haiti, which focuses on special needs education. Wrapping up with a semester of research, we will be working with faculty and students from the architecture department and a group of students from Cornell MINDS next semester to develop both the build-ing's design and a curriculum for the students in the school. Students will be traveling down to our site in Petit Goave over winter break and we are very excited to continue with our work in coming months.

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Independent Research: Sarah Levine sml258@cornell.eduBeebe Lake: Jared Landsman jpl236@cornell.eduSarah Levinesml258@cornell.eduFarm Pond Circle: Mary Millardmem473@cornell.eduTim Lenardo tel36@cornell.eduEthan Keller eak244@cornell.edu

SNN: Kai Keane Kaikeane@gmail.comCornell NYCTech: Aylin Gucalp abg86@cornell.eduHaiti:Joe Nelson jsn76@cornell.eduFiber Optic Lighting:Jeremy Blumjeremyblum@gmail.com

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