UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY FUND PROJECT APPLICATION

All materials must be submitted electronically. Please complete the following information: Application Date: 1/16/12 Project Title: Peace and Friendship Garden Solar Powered Irrigation System: Sustainable Engineering Experience Total Requested Amount (minimum grant = $1,000): $5000 Applicant Information Name of Primary Contact: Christopher Leininger Please mark your status with an X: X Student Staff Faculty Campus Affiliation (Name of Organization, Department, or Office): Maryland Sustainability Engineering Email Address: 716cwl@gmail.com Cell and/or Work Phone: 443-695-5224 Campus Mailing Address: 4110B Oakland Hall, The University of Maryland If you are a student, please provide the following information: This project is solely my own OR This project is proposed on behalf of (student org., campus dept., etc.): Maryland Sustainability Engineering Name of Faculty or Staff Project Advisor (required): Dr. David Lovell Faculty or Staff Project Advisor Contact Information: Email Address: lovell@eng.umd.edu Campus Address: 1173 Glenn L. Martin Hall Phone Number: Day-time/Work: (301) 405-7995 Please organize your proposal into the following 10 sections and answer the prompting questions where applicable. Total proposal length should not exceed 6 pages (1 inch margins, 11 point font). Additional documentation (e.g., letters of support, maps, drawings, etc.) should be submitted as appendices and clearly labeled to aid committee review. Please include a bulleted list of any attachments (including file names) here: Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Please email your application materials to sustainability@umd.edu. Please include University Sustainability Fund Application in the subject line. You will receive electronic confirmation that your materials have been received.
Please review the application materials and on-line content carefully. If you still have questions, please email the Office of Sustainability at sustainability@umd.edu with your specific question. It is highly recommended you contact the Office of Sustainability in advance of the application deadline to talk through your application before you submit it.

Peace and Friendship Garden Solar Powered Irrigation System: Sustainable Engineering Experience

Submitted By: Christopher Leininger, Undergraduate Student University of Maryland, Maryland Sustainability Engineering Project Leader of the Peace and Friendship Garden Solar Powered Irrigation Project Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Lovell, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Maryland

Project Abstract: The University of Maryland Sustainability Engineering organization (MSE) is dedicated to implementing Low Impact Development (LID) across the University of Maryland Campus, in order to address important environmental issues through sustainable engineering solutions. Students gain valuable firsthand knowledge on engineering methodology and environmental issues, giving them impetus to become leaders in the implementation of other sustainability practices. During the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 academic year, students planned and designed the Guilford Run bioretention facility to serve as a solution to storm water management issues in parking Lot 1. Currently, MSE students are working closely with civil engineering faculty, and Facilities Management officials to design and implement a solar powered drip irrigation system on the UMD campus. The proposed project would irrigate the Peace and Friendship Garden, located across from the UMUC Student and Faculty Services Building, which currently must be hand irrigated. The irrigation system would be solar powered, thus removing the need for an external power source. The proposed project is currently entering into its design stage. Implementation is expected to occur in the Fall semester of 2012. This project represents an opportunity for MSE to gain experience in photovoltaics and irrigation and sets the stage for future on campus projects in Fall 2012 and Spring 2013.

1) Project Description The University of Maryland has a growing bond with China through liaison work and programs such as the Confucius Institute. Chinese artist Han Meilin, among other famous Chinese artists, has designed sculptures to contribute to these developing international bonds. Meilin's cast bronze sculpture, the Peace Tree, represents "Diversity in Unity". To commemorate this gift from the Chinese Government the University of Maryland built the Peace and Friendship Garden (PF Garden, See Figure 1) on the vista of the President's Residence. The Peace and Friendship Garden currently has no irrigation system and during the dry months in the late spring and summer it needs to be hand irrigated by a lengthy hose connection. This utilizes Facilities Manages human resources and it is their wish to develop an automated irrigation system for the site. The site currently has a utility hookup for water but none for electricity. The proposal here consists of powering the irrigation system with an array of solar panels, mounted on site, thus negating the need for a utility line to have to be brought to the site, saving time and money in the excavation of the utility line. The use irrigation system will consequently function during the day only but the use of highly efficient drip irrigation will negate the evaporation losses from the midday sun. Maryland Sustainability Engineering (MSE) and its parent organization, Engineers Without Borders (EWB) have a strong history of working in the local community and on campus to implement engineering solutions to water quality and resource management in order to promote low impact development (LID). In the past, MSE has worked on bioretention facilities in Edmonston, MD (2009) and on campus at the Guilford Run bioretention facility (2010-2011) (between Campus Drive and Lot1c) and MSE currently proposes to grow as an organization by branching out and gaining experience in other methods of low impact development. To this end, Maryland Sustainability Engineering proposes to design, fund and implement a drip irrigation system for the Peace and Friendship Garden. Figure 2 shows the conceptual aspects of drip irrigation. Throughout the Fall 2011 semester MSE student leaders met with UMD Facilities Management Planners to continue working upon the student-university relationship established by the Guilford Run bioretention project and to explore other possible sustainability projects on campus. After considering a range of potential projects and locations on campus, our team determined that the proposed irrigation system would complement University of Maryland and MSE environmental and student enrichment goals. 2) Student Input and Endorsement As a student-run organization open to UM students from all academic backgrounds, Maryland Sustainability Engineering and its partner organization, Engineers Without Borders, provides students with the unique opportunity to design and implement projects around the world and in our local community. Our design team is composed of students interested in gaining invaluable engineering experience outside the classroom while making a tangible difference in the local community. As a project endorsed and supported by the EWB Executive Board (primarily made up of undergraduates), our project solicits membership from the full EWB and MSE student base comprised of over 115 actively participating undergraduate and graduate students. 3) Anticipated Outcomes/Impact By implementing this irrigation system students hope to solve an engineering problem on campus. Students are endeavoring to make a hydrological model the site by researching the irrigation needs of the Peace and Friendship Garden, based upon prevalent soil types and the frequency and intensity of rainfall at College Park in order to properly map the hydro-zones of the garden. In addition to the environmental benefits, the students working on this project will benefit immensely from the varied experience they stand to gain. Valuable design experience will be gained by fully working out the design of the site and realizing the needs, requirements and limitations of the area. Students also stand to gain a wealth of knowledge in the field of project management. The

organizational and management skills that many team members will gain is something they will carry with them throughout their careers. Many of the students also recognize the need for strong community partnership and this will be gained by engaging UMD faculty and staff in discussion on the subject of this system. The proposed project also creates an opportunity for members of the project team to collaborate with other student groups in and around the University of Maryland. Student leaders recognize the potential for sharing the design and implementation experiences with other students involved in professional-and service-oriented organizations. 4) Project Benchmarking Solar powered irrigation systems have been implemented in many different campuses across the nation. Increasingly it is a popular method to supply electricity to areas where an electric hookup is not convenient. Notable examples include University of California Riverside which has installed an innovative irrigation system that includes a centralized irrigation computer and solar powered systems for areas with no immediate power source. MIT in its recent LEED certification of its Stata Center Building employs solar powered pumps for utilizing reclaimed storm water in irrigation and grey-water recycling systems. 5) Metrics for Assessment Our project team will be monitoring the site upon completion and take empirical measurements of the effectiveness of the system and its rate of water use. The project team will also perform an analysis of the cost savings a system of this nature generates through a comparison of the price of the energy produced with the cost of water supplied. The ability to provide for the irrigation needs of the site will be the primary method of assessment for the success of this project. Another assessment method will be cost savings. The installation of an automated irrigation system will remove a significant amount of labor from the upkeep of the Peace and Friendship Garden. Up to this point in time the upkeep of the PF Garden has necessitated the manual watering of the site during dry periods in the summer. The removal of this time-intensive labor will be a source of cost savings for Facilities Management. 6) Cost Savings A major outcome of this project is the automated irrigation of the Peace and Friendship Garden. The proposed project focuses on the issue of labor savings. Cost savings would become readily apparent in the potential man-hours saved due to the automation of the irrigation system. 7) Project Self Sufficiency The total cost of implementing the Peace and Friendship Gardens Irrigation System is projected to be $7150. The budget is based upon current preliminary design features and their projected material and transportation cost estimates. Due to the early stage of project development, several of the features in Table 1 are based upon the costs of similar projects (costs which were appropriately scaled up or down, depending on the relative project sizes) that have been done by other organizations. In order to cover the cost of this project, MSE students will actively be participating in EWB fundraising activities. In addition the Executive Board of EWB-UMCP has committed to 1/3rd in organizational funds to be put towards the projects budget. We ask that the Student Sustainability Committee apply $5000 out of the Campus Green Fund to assist the Peace and Friendship Gardens Irrigation System with implementation. As seen in Table 1, this grant would cover the vast majority of the projected material costs for the project.

Estimated Budget Material Costs Drip Irrigation System Components Solar Panels Mulch Material Subtotal ($) Delivery Costs Irrigation Components Mulch Delivery Subtotal ($) Subtotal ($) Contingency, 10% ($) Total ($)
Table 1

Cost ($) 5000 Donated by EWB 300 5300 Cost ($) 1000 200 1200 6500 650 7150

8) Project Lifespan The proposed project is currently in an early stage of development. Since Maryland Sustainability Engineering implemented the Guilford Run project last Spring our organization has been working with Facilities Management to identify a new sustainability project. Having recently determined that the area around the Presidents Residence was a site in need of attention, our projected schedule is as follows: Research into the site and design of the irrigation system: November 2011-March 2012 Contact with Suppliers and Campus organizations for materials, tools and resources needed: Febuary 2012-May 2012 Implementation of project: September2012-October 2012 During the project process students will be the main force moving the project forward. Research and design will be done by students with faculty oversight. Students will also be responsible for making sure the project progresses smoothly by staying attune to the particular logistical challenges of coordinating suppliers and campus resources. During construction Facilities Management professionals or a will be responsible for all on-site machine operation, and performing the electrical connections. Student volunteers will perform the fine grading the site, the laying of the irrigation tubing and connections, the testing and the resultant clean up and mulching of the site. Student leaders will work closely with construction supervisors to ensure that the system is built to specification. 9) Project Sustainability/Accountability Follow up work by the team will be done to assess the impact of the irrigation system after its implementation. This team will be responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the solar array for electricity production and of the irrigation system for delivering water to the plants. The team will analyze this data in order to describe the effectiveness of the runoff irrigation system.

While ideally the drip irrigation system and all its components will maintain its function for many years, the projected lifespan of a drip irrigation system is about 10 years. Both the students and associated professionals are putting forth great effort in the research and design stage in order to maximize the life span/design life of the project. While this is an important factor in ensuring a long design life for the project, proper maintenance is also important in maintaining long-term functionality of the system. Following implementation, all official maintenance responsibilities will be turned over to the UMD Campus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens and Facilities Management. Some responsibilities regarding maintenance of the unit after construction include caring for plants within the area, yearly winterization of the irrigation system and performing periodic flushing of the drip irrigation to make sure the system is functioning properly. Routine maintenance will promote the units highest performance and overall structure and function. In addition, MSE and EWB organizational leadership will be responsible for maintaining the present and future collaborations with Facilities Management and other university professionals. This will ensure the future of student-university environmental partnerships. 10) Potential for Broad Application This type of project has great potential for broader use in other locations on campus. The impetus for the solar powered irrigation system is due to the difficulty of bringing a utility line out to the garden which is somewhat isolated. Construction of utility lines across campus can be a difficult task as a deep trench must be dug across the landscape, considerations of current and future development can limit the feasibility and various state permits must be acquired for this sort of work. If this technique of isolated solar energy generation was used for other isolated spots on campus, the University of Marylands overall impact on energy consumption could be reduced along with its impact on the landscape. The future continuation of irrigation projects show potential for further development of community relationships by bringing together UMD students, professors, on-campus officials and local municipalities to achieve economical and environmental sustainability goals.

Figure 1 The Peace and Friendship Garden is located next to the UMUC Building and Presidental Dr and Lot 1D

Figure 2: A drip irrigation system is a network of pump or gravity pressurized water delivery pipes. At intervals along the lateral pipelines are emitters which release a slow but constant amount of water. The closed off design minimizes evaporative losses.

Figure 3: The layout of the existing Peace and Friendship Garden. The garden has close to 5000ft^2 of area to be covered with a drip irrigation system. Preliminary data and calculations show that in the peak of the summer, 400gal of water a day will be needed.