• About
    • Our Mission and Who We Are
  • Take Action
    • Individual Action >
      • So Much You Can Do!
      • Run For Office
      • Buildings (Home/Office) >
        • Gas
      • Transportation
      • Food
      • Landscaping
      • Solar
      • Waste >
        • Gift Wrap
        • Reduce Plastic
    • Group Action >
      • Donate
      • Volunteer
    • Global Action
    • More Action In Wellesley >
      • Other Local Organizations
      • Pollinate Wellesley >
        • Milkweed Sale
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Green Schools
    • Mission and Who We Are
    • Teachers >
      • Environmental Education
    • Green Team Representatives >
      • Smart Event Guide
      • Borrow Free Supplies for Your Event!
    • Families >
      • End of year Locker Cleanout Tips
      • School Supply list

WMS Students: "energy-efficient homes Are A subtle but impactful way to combat climate change"

3/8/2023

 
Picture
Written by Luna Lu and Sharon Cheng, Grade 8 WMS Students

House Unplugged is a project done annually in all WMS 8th grade science classes. Students like us work in small groups to design a model of an energy-efficient house. In the end, a miniature model is built using household materials like cardboard, felt, plastic containers, and newspaper. Although some information is covered in class, most work is done independently inside the groups. We conducted our own research by making use of online resources and taking detailed notes. The project this year was just a little under four weeks, but in that time, nearly all groups produced satisfactory results. 

Why are we doing this?
House Unplugged is partly an effort to deepen students’ understanding of heat transfer, which we had been studying prior to the project. But mostly, it is an effort to teach students about the importance of sustainability. As many may know, climate change is becoming a more concerning issue every year. The world has warmed as much as 1.8 ˚F in just the last century. Climate change will lead to inhumane temperatures if not acted upon, besides rising sea levels, unpredictable weather, and loss of biodiversity. The most pressing causes that we generally think of are the rapid industrialization of our times, energy use, and transportation. However, home building, one of the biggest contributors to climate change, goes unnoticed by the public. 

Currently, building houses counts for 40% of global CO2 emissions, and it’s only going up from there. Building materials alone contribute 13% to the roster. Since 1941, about 37.12 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide have been emitted every year, an unhealthy amount if we were to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Subsequently, by using sustainable building materials, we can save up to 4.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, the amount of CO2 that one billion people produce per year. If we can save that much the goal of this project is to build a model of a house that uses those sustainable materials.

Our Process Through the HU Project
The first step to any sort of project is always research. During this time, we took large amounts of notes to brainstorm the features we wanted to include in our home, such as solar panels, radiant  heating, etc. It was during this time that we discovered features like solar trackers, heat pumps, energy recovery ventilators, and many more that we weren’t aware of prior to House Unplugged. After finalizing our features, multiple sketches were made from different perspectives to show the full potential of the house. Since this project is likely students’ first time being introduced to sustainable building, we were lucky enough to have experts in the field come in to discuss our decisions and give feedback on ways to improve. 

These experts were architects, carpenters, and even teachers who came and spent multiple days with us. Through our conversations, we started thinking about more specific aspects like the material of the walls and what kinds of insulation works best. We looked into different alternatives to the mechanics we wanted to include previously. By talking with an expert, we discovered that, alongside the solar panels which we were planning to install on the roof, we could also include solar trackers/trees, providing us with the most amount of energy possible. Our experts also talked to us about how the different mechanics in our house can work together to be more efficient and effective. For example, one important aspect of an energy-efficient house is for it to be airtight in order to preserve the temperature inside the house. However, if this was to happen, we also had to make sure that fresh air had a chance to enter the house by using an ERV (energy recovery ventilator) that could bring fresh air into the house and remove stale air within the house. 
 
The building process of the house was a time-consuming portion of this project taking us about a week to complete. Materials were brought in mostly by the students and only some were provided by the teachers, they varied from cardboard, to plastic containers, straws, and newspapers. Most groups, including our own, started with a shoe box and modified it to our needs. We had the freedom to build however we wanted and had the responsibility of deciding how we were going to incorporate all the aspects of our original plan into our model. We cut out squares in our box to form windows and glued them on newspaper to represent cellulose insulation within our walls. Our model was placed on a flat piece of cardboard and everything was positioned strategically according to our research like placing deciduous trees on the south-facing side of our house to block sunlight. 

The last aspect of the House Unplugged project was for all the students to summarize all that we  learned and present our final design to judges, some of whom were adults from WMS and others who were experts from the community. . Each group worked to put together a slideshow to showcase their understanding of this project. We were asked to explain the different aspects of our models, how they function, and how they benefit an energy-efficient house. 

Throughout the project, students like us not only developed team working skills but also learned about aspects of energy-efficient homes, a subtle but impactful way to combat climate change. Many students went home to explain the concepts to their family, and it’s safe to say that this project was a great success. We can’t wait to see what students will do with this project next year. 

​
Works Cited
Architecture 2030. “Why the Building Sector? – Architecture 2030.” Architecture 2030, . Accessed 6 Mar. 2023.
Tiseo, Ian. “Annual CO2 Emissions Worldwide 1940-2021.” Statista, 6 Feb. 2023, . Accessed 6 Mar. 2023.

    Categories

    All
    11th Hour
    2022
    350.org
    5 Minutes
    Action
    #ActioninWellesley
    Actions
    Add To Your Resume
    Air Quality
    Air Source Heat Pumps
    All Ages
    Apartment
    Appliances
    Attorney General
    Author
    Award
    Banks
    Beacon Hill
    Becca Rausch
    Bike
    Bikes
    Biking
    Bill McKibben
    Biodegradable
    Boards And Committees
    Book
    Book Club
    Book Group
    Books
    Borrow
    Boston
    Build
    Builders
    Building
    Buildings
    Bus
    Business
    Buy Nothing
    Cabell Eames
    Call
    Cancer Causing
    Candidate
    Candidates
    Car
    Car Free
    Cars
    Catalog
    Catch Connect
    Children
    Christmas Tree
    Clean
    Clean Energy
    Clean Heat
    Clean Up
    Climate Actin
    Climate Action
    Climate Action Committee
    Climate Action MA
    Climate Action Plan
    Climate Angst
    Climate Bill
    #climatechange
    Climate Distress
    CLimate Justice
    Climate Matters
    Clothing
    Coach
    Cold
    Comfort
    Commonwealth
    Community Service
    Commute
    Compost
    Conservation
    Conserve
    Conversation
    Cook
    Cooking
    Cooking Technology
    Cool
    Coping
    Corporate Responsibility
    Create
    Cynthia Creem
    Dana Hall
    Dave Becker
    Decarbonize
    Demonstration
    Dems
    Design
    Distress
    Donate
    Drive
    Drought
    Dryer
    Easier
    Easy
    Efficient
    Elect
    Election
    Electric
    Electric Appliances
    Electric Car
    Electric Experience
    Electricity
    Electricity V
    Electric Lawn Care
    Electric Vehicles
    Electrificatino
    Electrification
    Electrify
    Electronic Waste
    Energy
    Energy Assesment
    Energy Audit
    Energy Efficiency
    Energy Efficient
    Energy Price
    Energy Savings
    Energy Use
    Environment
    Environmental Justice
    Environmental Voters Projct
    Equitable
    EV
    Events
    Evolutions
    Experts
    Fall
    Family
    Farm Animals
    Fashion
    Fast Fashion
    Fathers Day
    Feel Good
    Fields
    Finance
    Food
    Food Pantry
    Food Waste
    Free
    Fridays For Future
    Fun
    Fund
    Future
    Garage Sale
    Garden
    Gardens
    Gas
    Gas Leak
    Get Involved
    Get Off Gas
    Get Together
    GHG
    Global Climate Strike
    Goals
    Go Green
    Grass
    Green Building
    Green Consumer Alliance
    Green Schools
    Grow Food
    Hardy School
    Health
    Healthy
    Healthy Family
    Heat
    Heater
    Heating And Cooling
    Heating System
    Heat Pump
    Heat Pumps
    Help Others
    High Efficiency
    High Performance
    Holiday
    Holiday Lights
    Holidays
    Home
    Homes
    Hope
    Hot Water
    House
    Hunnewell School
    HVAC
    Hybird
    Ideas
    Idle
    Idling
    Incentives
    Indiction
    Induction
    Inspiration
    Inspire
    Internship
    Investment
    July Jubilation
    Junk Mail
    Jupiter
    Kelsey Hudson PhD
    Kids
    Landscaping
    Lawn
    Lawn Care
    Lawn Mower
    Lawns
    Leadership
    Lead On Climate
    Leaf Blower
    Leaf Blowre
    League Of Women Voters
    LEED
    Legislation
    Legislators
    Library
    Lighting
    Light Plant
    Lights
    Lincoln
    Living Sustainably
    Lobby
    Local Government
    Local Politics
    Make Change
    Marathon
    Marine Pollution
    Masks
    Mass Climate Action
    Mass Save
    MCAN
    Meatless Monday
    Meet
    Meet Goals
    Meet New People
    Meet People
    Mindy Domb
    Mini
    MIT
    Mobility
    Mobility Plan
    Money
    Mopo
    Mother's Out Front
    Mower
    Municipal Light Plants
    Mustang
    Native
    Native Garden
    Native Plants
    Natural Resources
    Natural Resources Commission
    Nature
    Neighbor
    Net Zero
    New Construction
    New Year
    No Cost
    Noise
    Olin
    Opportunity
    Organize
    Parade
    Parenting
    Partner
    Party
    Passive Home
    Passive Homes
    Peabody
    Peak
    Pension
    Pets
    Pfas
    Pipe Lines
    Pizza
    Plants
    Polestar
    Police
    Politics
    Pollinate
    Pollution
    Pre Loved
    Pre School
    Psychologist
    Public Transit
    Questions?
    Quiet
    Rainwater
    RDF
    Reach Goa
    Reach Our Goals
    Read
    Realtors
    Rebate
    Rebates
    Recycle
    Recycling
    Recycling Facility
    Reduce Costs
    Register To Vote
    Renewable Energy
    Renovate
    Renovation
    Reslience
    Retro Fit
    Reuse
    Re-use
    Rev. Vernon K. Walker
    Rides
    Rummage Sale
    Run
    Run For Office
    Safety
    Save
    Save Energy
    Save Money
    Saving Us
    School
    Schools
    Science
    Scoot
    Sen Mike Barret
    Share
    Share Inputt
    Shop
    Show
    Smart Heating And Cooling
    Snow Blower
    Social And Family Event
    Solar
    State House
    Statewide
    Stay Warm
    St. John's School
    Stove
    Student
    Students
    Summer
    Supplies
    Support Climate Action
    Survey
    Take Action
    Talk
    Teachers
    Test Drive
    Thanks
    TikTok
    Tiny Home
    Tonight
    Town Goverment
    Town Government
    Town Hall
    Town Meeting
    Town Of Wellesley
    Town Politics
    Toxins
    Train
    Transit
    Translate
    Transportation
    Tree Planting
    Try
    TV
    Use Less
    Vehicles
    Virtual Event
    Volunteer
    Vote
    Vote Your Values
    Walk
    Washing Machine
    Waste
    Water
    Water Conservation
    Wayland
    WeCare
    WEF
    Wellesley
    Wellesley Free Library
    Wellesley Green Schools
    Wellesley High School
    Wellesley League Of Women Voters
    Wellesley Middle School
    Wellesley Police
    Wellesley Police Department
    Wellesley Public Schools
    Wellesley RDF
    Wellesley Students
    Wellesley Town Hall
    Wellesley Water
    Wellesley Wonderful Weekend
    Weston
    What's Is New
    Whs
    Winter
    WMS
    Work
    Wrap
    Write
    Yard Sale
    Year End Charitable Giving Wellesley
    You Are Invited
    #YouCanDoIt
    Your Talents
    Your Values
    Your Voice
    Your Voice Heard
    Zero Emissions

    RSS Feed

×

Sign up for updates!

Get Our Newsletter

Contact

info@sustainablewellesley.com
75 Emerson Road
Tel: 781-772-1188

Support us!

Volunteer
Donate

Follow us!

Copyright © 2019 By Sustainable Wellesley
Photos used under Creative Commons from Rennett Stowe, Fan.D & Dav.C Photgraphy, Ivan Radic, KOMUnews, focusonmore.com, Ivan Radic, shixart1985, vwcampin, shixart1985, Scrap Pile, garlandcannon, Ivan Radic, We Like Sharing, Ruth and Dave, Ivan Radic, REM Photo, Images_of_Money, Raed Mansour, comedy_nose, Ivan Radic, RLHyde, aqua.mech, dc_gardens
  • About
    • Our Mission and Who We Are
  • Take Action
    • Individual Action >
      • So Much You Can Do!
      • Run For Office
      • Buildings (Home/Office) >
        • Gas
      • Transportation
      • Food
      • Landscaping
      • Solar
      • Waste >
        • Gift Wrap
        • Reduce Plastic
    • Group Action >
      • Donate
      • Volunteer
    • Global Action
    • More Action In Wellesley >
      • Other Local Organizations
      • Pollinate Wellesley >
        • Milkweed Sale
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Green Schools
    • Mission and Who We Are
    • Teachers >
      • Environmental Education
    • Green Team Representatives >
      • Smart Event Guide
      • Borrow Free Supplies for Your Event!
    • Families >
      • End of year Locker Cleanout Tips
      • School Supply list