Teira Dadgar--NCSU Solar House

On May 2, 2011 I went to the Solar House next to the McKimmon Center off of Western Blvd and Gorman Street. As an Environmental Technology student, it was surprising that this was my first trip to the Solar House. My professors have mentioned the Solar House numerous times, but I have never made the actual trip out and across the street.

The house is roughly 2150 square feet, including a balcony, sunroom, and garage. It is entirely powered by solar panels on the house. The garage also has solar cells on it to generate power for the structure and an electric hybrid car. Below is a picture of the garage, and the roof that is covered with solar cells. There is also another picture of a toy from 1998. The hot wheels car contains a small solar panel on it that is “guaranteed for life.” The toy demonstrates how mainstream and “old” solar energy was then and is today.

Surrounding the Solar House, there are free standing solar panels and windmills that are used for research by various colleges and researchers on campus. The solar panels and windmills do not contribute to generate power for the Solar House, which I and other visitors originally thought. From the tour, I also learned about the energy savings and energy credits the Solar House gets from Progress Energy. Overall, I think the Solar House is a good advertisement for alternative energy, and a nearby educational resource for people to see how alternative energy does mean sacrifices have to be made as far as home design.

Rocky Branch Corridor and Stream: NCSU Campus - Zack Combs

After making a trip to Fayetteville to visit the Botanical Gardens only to have it rain, I decided to blog about the Rocky Branch corridor here on campus. I had visited the creek before but in doing this project I learned a great deal about the restoration. Years ago stormwater runoff from urbanization (construction, roads, etc.) was eroding the stream in a detrimental way. NCSU launched a three-phase restoration project to improve the water quality and habitat of the corridor as well as the aesthetic value. All natural materials are used to prevent erosion on the banks of the stream and provide cover for wildlife.

While on my excursion I became aware of the purpose and functionality of the multiple parts of a stream. Meanders disperse the energy of the stream while creating deeper, cool pools for fish to thrive in. Streams have riffles as well which are shallower and contain invertebrates, the base of the food chain. Aside from the stream, another vital part of the restoration includes the containment of stormwater runoff. Instead of letting the stormwater run wild into whichever drain it may go, a stormwater pond and raingardens have been constructed (it took me forever to find the pond...).

Wildfire in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge - Zachary C.

The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a Refuge located off Highway 64 which runs from Raleigh to my hometown Manteo. Last weekend I was able to get out there to experience a wildfire. My younger brother works for the refuge through a high school program involving media, so he was able to get me out there to take some pictures and experience what the wildfire was like as 'media.'

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is approximately 152,000 acres in it's entirety. The wildfire covers the southeastern part of the refuge primarily and has reached up to a reported 21,000 acres. The fire was reported Thursday afternoon. On May 6, the fire jumped highway 264, south to Wilmington, closing a ten mile section of the highway in between towns Stumpy Point and Engelhard. The current cause of the wildfire is unknown, but many think it was caused by several different lightning strikes in the area.

The 138 workers, working on the fire are working diligently to contain the spread. They are using bulldozers, marshmasters (amphibious marsh machines), helicopters, airplanes, and several fire engines. There are many people that have teamed up to work on this fire from all around the country. This includes: US Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service, US Forest Service, local fire stations, and NC Division of Forestry Services.

North Carolina Solar Center

Michael Vick and I (Courtney Thompson) visited the North Carolina Solar Center. The Solar House in NCSU campus is of the most visited and visible solar houses in the United States. It was built in the fall of 1981. The NCSU Solar House is on Gorman Street, right behind the McKimmon Center. As might be the same for many other NC State students, the solar house went completely unnoticed by Michael and me until we discovered it for this project. According to The Enterprise 9/4/1984 article the NCSU solar house was the idea of mechanical and aerospace engineers, Albert S Boyers and Herbert Meckerlin. These project directors along with a Raleigh architect, Bruce Johnson, built and designed the 2020 square foot home. The house is two stories and has three bedrooms, two baths, a living and dining room, kitchen, den, utility room, sun space, and balcony. There is 1834 square feet in living space and 320 square feet in sunspace and balcony. The interiors were designed by Wilma Hammott, who wanted to inside to resemble a normal home. The solar house was built to serve three purposes. The first purpose is to demonstrate how solar and energy-efficient technologies can be effectively used in a traditional designed home in this area. The second purpose is to serve as an educational resource for students and the community and the third purpose is to serve as a research lab for graduate students in engineering, interior design, and other studies. Some key features of the home include a sunspace that collects, stores, and distributes solar heat for space heating, solartubes that provide natural lighting, alternative fuels 2-car garage, and an active solar hot water system that heats domestic hot water. The landscaping is built in a way to reduce the home’s energy requirements during each season. Michael and I found the house extremely interesting and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in conserving energy. The staff is willing to help with any questions you may have. The hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm,2pm-5pm and admission is free!

Chase Kennedy - Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education

I chose to visit the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education. I have been without a car for the past couple of weeks; so, I had no other choice than to visit something close by. Fortunately though! the education center is quite interesting and surprisingly informative and hands on, especially for its relatively hidden location.

The center seems to be set up for a slightly younger age group, but is still very interesting and contains a lot of information about the wildlife and ecosystems of North Carolina. Probably the most interesting part of the exhibits is the giant high-resolution satellite map that visitors see in the entrance. Much like a map that would be found on googleEarth, this is solely of North Carolina, and is blown up to about 10-15 feet wide.

From the entrance, I was led through various exhibits about mammals, fish, reptiles, birds, and bugs that inhabit North Carolina. It was within sifting through images and interactive programs that I found out Bald Eagles are actually residents of North Carolina that have migrated from the Appalachian mountains, and a couple of alligator species are mostly found in my home-region of North Carolina. (I’ve never seen a wild alligator there, but I guess its true!) Finally, there is a history of wildlife in North Carolina, relating to laws/hunting/species movement, and a great wall of photos from a recent wildlife photography contest.

Chris Maher - NCSU Solar House

The NCSU Solar House was designed with three primary purposes, to demonstrate how green energy can be incorporated into houses, act as an education resource for anyone and serve as a research lab for students of NCSU. The house showcases features and designs that promote energy efficiency that can be used in many settings. Landscaping and insulation can play key parts in keeping the house warm or cold and reduce costs by encouraging warming solar radiation, deflecting cold winter winds and channeling breezes for cooling in spring, summer and fall. Additionally, the house has examples of solar panels being used to power LED street lights and wind generators provide additional energy.

Throughout the entire house there are examples of how much energy can be saved just from changing materials or technology. For example, traditional light bulbs consume 4 times the energy of high efficiency light bulbs and insulation can save countless dollars on heating and cooling. The garage highlights an alternative fuel station with thin-film PV on the roof to provide energy for charging electric cars.

With all the solar panels and wind generators around the property, the solar house shows that you can utilize green energy and keep an aesthetic appeal.

Walid Nazari: Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve

For my class blog, I decided to go to Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, located in Southern Cary. The Preserve is approximately 150 acres that is situated along Swift Creek. It contains about three miles of trails, some of which is owned by the

town of Cary and other parts by the State of North Carolina. When you walk up to the place, you don't really expect much because all you see is one semi-large building. However, once you actually look at the map they provide you, you realize that this place is GIGANTIC. They have on-site tour guide

s if you need them and all sorts of different view points to look at, such as a patio section, as well as a walking bridge. Depending on which trail you take, you are able to see all sorts of different species around. The cool thing that they have is that there are different numbers at different sections of each trail that tell you what to expect there, like different plants/trees or animals. The Swift Creek Loop trail primarily shows you a great assortment of plants, trees, and shrubs. The Chestnut Oak Loop Trail, which is over a mile long, has more of the wildlife. When walking both of these trails, I realized that it's literally a breeze! I mean, I really didn't notice how long each was because everywhere I looked, there was always something that caught my eye. Even if you didn't like the we

ather outside and didn't want to walk, the Stevens Nature Center(big building in the front) has a great indoor exhibit hall, which offers displays that explain the uniqueness and history o

f the area to visitors, as well as educate citizens about the

environment. There is all sorts of information on soils, forests, animal habitats, nocturnal animals, local parks and green ways, as well as historical background on the preserve and the Cary area.

In conclusion, the Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve was a great place to go and see! They had very helpful people there that were very knowledgeable about the area. Also, if you don't need assistance, then you can go solo through the preserve and see what it has to offer. I give the place two green thumbs up!

Centennial Greenway/North Creek restoration - Brian Gensch

The Centennial Greenway is not only a fitness trail for jogger, bikers, and walkers, but also an educational tool for the campus community. Stream restoration activities, construction of storm water best management practices, and installation of hardwood trees have improved campus water quality. stream restoration reconnects North Creek to flood plain and improves riparian habitat. Storm water best management practices such as constructed wetlands and ponds treat storm water from roof tops and parking lots and help control mosquitoes. Upland hardwoods provide habitat cover, food for wildlife, and shade.

The first phase of greenway path was constructed in 2003 west of the Venture Center. After construction activities in 2008 and 2009, the greenway path now runs form Wildlife resources, past Lake Raleigh Fishing Pier, to the Main Campus Drive culvert at Walnut Creek.

Future greenway construction will provide a continuous path connecting the Centennial greenway to the City of Raleigh greenway at lake Wheeler Road and Lake Johnson linking a network of public greenspace throughout the city.

Jockey's Ridge State Park - Claire Lucas

I traveled to Nags Head and visited Jockey's Ridge State Park. My family visited Nags Head when I was little, so it was interesting to go back and see how the outer banks have changed. Many houses and tourist attractions are either non existent or were moved further inland. Erosion of the outer banks generates many problems to the environment and to the economy. Hurricanes, crashing waves, and climate changes are the main causes of beach erosion. I learned many attempts are made to save the beach by artificially nourishing the sand. This solution is expensive and controversial.


Overall, I loved visiting the outer banks. Jockey's Ridge seems to be endless miles of sand dunes. And of course, while at the outer banks, I had to honor Wilbur and Orville by visiting the Wright Brothers Memorial. No wonder we must save the sand dunes, they are the reason for the Wright Brothers came to NC for their first flight!

NC Museum of Art

On beautiful Saturday morning, I had a chance to visit the North Carolina Museum of Art. Surprisingly, there were more people walking around the park than people were actually in the museum. There was an ongoing park project on pond renovation. The purpose of this renovation is to increase a capacity of the pond on holding water and mange excessive amounts of water flowing down to the pond, on occasions of heavy raining. Brilliantly, they placed rocks on a downhill towards to the pond in order to decrease a flow rate of water, and also placed several small reservoirs around the pond to hold water instead directly leading it to the pond. It was very interesting as I just took a fluid dynamics class and I could point out several principles of fluid dynamics on the renovation project. Even though the pond was only renovated to mange water flowing into the museum area, but I do think this kind of idea can apply to a bigger scale.
Sung-Min Baik

Walnut Creek Wetlands John J.

I decided to go to the Walnut Creek Wetlands Cent for my blog post. I have to say a lot of what went into the decision was its proximity to my apartment. I took a couple of friends with me not really expecting much but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. At the actual center there was a lot of educational material. There were displays set up to show us some of the animals that would be found in the area. A lady came and talked to us about the animals. She told us if we listened quietly we might hear a barn owl. We were prepared for this thanks to the display that had the actual calls of the animals. It also showed us the different uses the wetland has, from habitation to purification of water. It also serves as a nursery in which many animals raise young. We did not see any animals besides bugs. Also along the walking trail behind it there is a creek where we saw tracks of an animal but did not come upon it.

Amanda K North Carolina Arboretum

Over the Easter Break, I visited the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. The Arboretum is 434 acres that have 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of hiking/ biking trails. There are many different exhibits at the Arboretum, and my favorite was the bonsai collection. Every plant was a piece of artwork that really gave you some insight into a fascinating culture. Because of this exhibit and the educational programs associated with the collection, the Arboretum has become the center for bonsai activity in the Southeast. The Exhibition was built in 2005 from strictly private donations.
In addition to this beautiful collection, there are miles of trails and many different rivers which run through the area. It was a lot of fun walking on the several different nature trails which were pretty secluded. There were many different flower beds in full bloom. My favorite picture was of me in the middle of thousands of poppies.

Umstead State Park: Andrew Scarff

On the morning of May 5, 2011 my girlfriend and I visited William B. Umstead State Park in Raleigh, North Carolina. The 5,579 acre park state park is located between Raleigh and the Research Triangle Park and is accessible from I-40 and U.S. 70. It is divided into two sections, Reedy Creek and Crabtree Creek. In 1996, Crabtree Creek and Reedy Creek Parks were joined together in the creation of Umstead State Park.

It was a beautiful sun-filled day with the temperature only being in the low 70s. We entered the park through the Crabtree Creek entrance on Glenwood Avenue (U.S. 70). I was taken aback how such a wooded and natural area could be located so close to urbanized civilization. The first thing we did was take a short trail down to the boat house located on Big Lake. There were plenty of pine, maple, sweet gum, and dogwood trees along the path (with the occasional cedar). Various species of birds were flying everywhere each with their specific song (even saw a pair of herons on the lake). Unfortunately, the boat house was closed (where you can rent kayaks and canoes), but the lake was still stunningly picturesque. We even took part of the Sycamore Trail which wound itself into the heart of the park. The trails seemed to be well marked and warned against going off the trail and damaging the foliage and environment. The park management was stringent on their rules and guidelines to ensure the park remain as pristine as possible.

There are twenty-two miles of hiking trails (10 main trails to pick from) ranging from a short stroll to an extensive hike through the wilderness. 13 miles of bridle trails allow horse enthusiasts a venue to traverse the more secluded areas of the park. Umstead is only of a few state parks which cater to and allow mountain bikers to travel along both paved and gravel trails which spread throughout the park. There is no better way to gain (or increase) your appreciation of nature and its conservation than experiencing the outdoors first hand.

NCSU Solar House - Nisarg Parikh

I went to visit NC State Solar House. This was a very interesting and long trip for me because this is what I want to do in future. I want to work on renewable energy sources when I graduate. The Solar Center's Renewable Energy Team focuses on developing and assisting renewable energy technologies across the residential, commercial, and industrial clients. The mission of the North Carolina Solar Center is to advance the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building, and clean transportation resources to ensure a sustainable economy that protects our natural environment, encourages energy independence, and lowers energy costs for consumers. The Center will safeguard this sustainable energy future through programs to educate the public, share research and technical expertise, guide industry’s energy decisions, and shape government policy.

They solar electricity demonstration for people to easily understand how powerful solar energy is. Since this was an indoor project, they put light that has a same power as solar heat on top of solar panels (As you can see in picture above). As soon as you turn on the light it activates the solar panels. You can attach any electronic device to the solar panels, in this demonstration they have attached a fan which turns on.

NCSU Solar House - Edward Gallagher

The NCSU solar house is every college students dream, you never have to pay for electricity. I visited the solar house on May 2, 2011 for the first time in my life. The house itself is 2154 sq. ft. including a sunspace and a balcony. The house has a 35 degree roof facing south that optimizes the annual solar collection. The roof of the house and also the garage has solar panels that collect energy and generate electricity. The panels on the house are able to generate 5.4 kilowatts of electricity while the panels on the garage are able to generate 3 kilowatts. The panels on the garage are used to power the electric cars inside.


The solar house does not only use solar panels, it also has thermal storage walls which collects, stores, and transfers solar hear for natural heating in the house. Also, a thermal water system and geo-thermal heat pump are used to heat and cool water going inside of the house. Natural architectural was also used to make the house energy efficient. The south side of the house is shaded in the summer keeping the house cool, while earth berming on the north and west side of the house reduces heat loss in the winter. One thing I found really cool was the collection of solar toys in the house. One in particular was a solar toy car.The goal of the solar house is to demonstrate how solar technologies can be incorporated to houses in the Raleigh area, be and educational resource to the school, and also to be a research laboratory for students. I believe the solar house has accomplished these goals and that all students in energy related fields should take a field trip to this house.

Scott Li - North Carolina Solar Center

I went to visit the NC solar center after one the finals on May 4 on a sunny day. NCSU is on the fore-front of renewable energy revolution. We have the FREE-DM (the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management center) on Centennial campus in addition of the solar center. What interest me is the new addition of thin film solar panels (fore-ground, 1st row) on 1-axis tracker. Sun light have the potential to generate 1kw/m^2 of electricity. Solar PV electricity is renewable once its installation’s carbon payback time is accounted for. Carbon savings can be considerable (around 1.2 tonnes of CO2 each year) A 2.5 kWp system could provide 50 percent of a household's annual electricity needs. A typical home PV system could save around 1200 kg of carbon dioxide per year – around 30 tonnes over its lifetime. It's great to see the new generation of thin film solar panel up close, it's not only cheaper to manufacture, it's has high efficiency than traditional solar panels. I forgot to take a picture of myself with the solar panels (the date tag should be in the image).