Building Efficiency Technologies by Tomorrow’s Engineers and Researchers (BETTER) Capstone. Final Technical Report
- Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
BETTER Capstone supported 29 student project teams consisting of 155 students over two years in developing transformative building energy efficiency technologies through a capstone design experience. Capstone is the culmination of an undergraduate student’s engineering education. Interdisciplinary teams of students spent a semester designing and prototyping a technological solution for a variety building energy efficiency problems. During this experience students utilized the full design process, including the manufacturing and testing of a prototype solution, as well as publically demonstrating the solution at the Capstone Design Expo. As part of this project, students explored modern manufacturing techniques and gained hands-on experience with these techniques to produce their prototype technologies. This research added to the understanding of the challenges within building technology education and engagement with industry. One goal of the project was to help break the chicken-and-egg problem with getting students to engage more deeply with the building technology industry. It was learned however that this industry is less interested in trying innovative new concept but rather interested in hiring graduates for existing conventional building efforts. While none of the projects yielded commercial success, much individual student growth and learning was accomplished, which is a long-term benefit to the public at large.
- Research Organization:
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0007133
- OSTI ID:
- 1394809
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-GIT-07133
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Safeguards by Design Projects (Final Report-FY-22)
Diffusion of Innovations: Interplay of Social, Economic, Technological, and Policy Drivers in the Solar Industry. Summary of UT Austin Student Capstone Research Projects