Calvin Solar Energy Team Set to Graduate on Saturday

May 19, 2004 == MEDIA ADVISORY

It took two years to research, finance, design and build. It will provide at least 60 percent of the energy for the newest building at Calvin College. And it will educate visitors about renewable energy sources.

It is the solar energy project for Calvin's new Helen and Vincent Bunker Interpretive Center, in the words of engineering professor Paulo Ribeiro: "the most significant engineering design project in the history of the college engineering program."

And its creator, Jordan Hoogendam, is a college student.

In fact, the solar energy project was the senior engineering design project for Hoogendam, a native of Cobourg, Ontario, and three of his fellow students * Clinton Reitsma of Whitby, Ontario, Sam Schoofs of Grand Rapids and Sharon Abraham of Sugar Land, Texas.

Those who designed and built the new Bunker Center agree that without Hoogendam and his team the new building, slated to open this summer and be dedicated this fall, would not be solar-powered.

For his part Hoogendam says simply: "I really, really wanted to see a technology like this displayed in a large way at Calvin."

Thanks to the efforts of him and his team it will be.

Visitors to the Bunker Center first will notice on the roof a large photovoltaic array, which will supply the lion's share of the center's energy. Meanwhile a Web server attached to the system will monitor solar intensity, wind speed and direction, temperature, the system's power output and the facility's power consumption. That server, in turn, will interface with an interactive educational kiosk located in the Bunker Center and with a special Calvin website * making information about renewable energy available to multiple audiences.

The photovoltaic project is one of several environmentally friendly features which qualify the building for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. And it represents the culmination of a long-time dream for Hoogendam.

To read more about the team and their project see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2003_04/solar_team.htm
Received on Wed May 19 11:26:58 2004