Sustainability Commons^™

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2010, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

Evaluating The Energy And Carbon Footprint Of Water Conveyance System And Future Water Supply Options For Las Vegas, Nevada, Eleeja Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Water production requires the use of energy to transport water from distant locations, pump groundwater from deep aquifers and treat water to meet stringent drinking water and wastewater regulations. Energy production based on its source involves the emission of greenhouse gases also known as carbon footprint, which is the leading cause of global warming and climate change. Because of growing concerns of global warming due to these emissions, water providers are required to analyze the energy and associated carbon footprint of existing water production facilities and future water supply options. A system dynamics model is developed to estimate the energy …

Perception Of Ecological Risk To Water Environments And How It Affects Water Consumption And Water Resource Management In Southern Nevada, Tanju Kiriscioglu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate is harsh in southern Nevada where there is (and has been) a drought alert in effect for over a decade now (Kerr, 2007; Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2009). Las Vegas Valley is a major center of population in the region (1.9 million people), receiving only 4.5 inches of average annual precipitation yet in need of securing more water resources in the near future (SNWA, 2009). Water resource management in southern Nevada is a challenge, especially when 90% of the area’s water needs are met by a single source, the Colorado River, the flow rates of which have been in …

The Integration Of Biomimicry Into A Built Environment Design Process Model: An Alternative Approach Towards Hydro-Infrastructure, Timothy Lee Albertson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current methods and processes that support the planning, design and construction of a sustainable built environment include ambiguous principles (Roseland 2000), lack feedback loops (Van Bueren and Jong 2007) and lack a common language between disciplines (Brandon et al 1997). As a result of 3.8 billion years of "research and development" (evolution), nature provides a set of design blueprints that may be used to guide us to create elegant, sustainable, and innovative designs for human technologies (Benyus 1997). The field of biomimicry analyzes nature's best ideas and adapts them for human use (Benyus 1997). The built environment could benefit from …

Algal Biofuel, Feb 5, 2010, Harry Reid Center, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Biofuels

News in Brief

1. UVa engineers find significant environmental impacts with algae-based biofuel (Jan-21, 2010)

2. IPCC scientist: Global cooling headed our way for the next 30 years? (Jan 11, 2010)

3. Shining a Light on Plants' Quantum Secret to Boost Photosynthesis (Feb 3, 2010)

Losing The Lake: Designing An Educational Computer Game On Water Resources In Southern Nevada, Michael Nussbaum, Gale Sinatra, Frederick C. Harris, Sergiu Dascalu, Sajjad Ahmad, Kent J. Crippen, Marissa Owens

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

30 PowerPoint slides Convener: Nick Lancaster, DRI Session 6: Bridging the Gap- Interdisciplinary Science to Connect Biophysical and Social Dimensions of Climate Change Abstract: To design and test an educationally useful computer game to educate middle- and high-school students, and the general public, about water and sustainability + effect of climate change on those

Algal Biofuel, [Jan. 21, 2010], Harry Reid Center, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Biofuels

News in Brief

1. UVa engineers find significant environmental impacts with algae-based biofuel (Jan-21, 2010)