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GREEN SOLUTIONS: NEW PROJECT TEACHES STUDENTS TO FIX RECYCLING CHALLENGE
 Determination has paid off for the
College of Architecture Student
Council. After two years of working
to improve recycling in their
building, the student council has
found a solution with a grant to
fund a new Industrial Design
project. The project incorporates a
real life design problem into the
curriculum of a course and teaches
students to go green in the process.
The Gerald D. Hines College of
Architecture is known for its green
initiatives and design principles
and, being open 24-hours, is a
second home to many of its students.
With so much time spent within the
building, there was a high volume of
trash accumulating as well. The
Student Council, led by Lauren
Roberts and Frank Martin, noticed
that a lot of recyclable materials
were ending up in the trash cans
conveniently located throughout the
building rather than in the
recycling bins, which were located
in only one designated area on each
floor.
So the 2009-2010 Student Council
took action placing three labeled
paper bags in each of the studios to
provide a convenient location for
students to recycle. The bags were
working as far as getting students
to recycle more, however, there was
one problem. Once they were filled,
no one was taking them out to the
side of the building to empty the
recyclables. So the bags became
soaked, damaged and eventually just
an eye sore. But the Student Council
didn’t give up on their mission.
This past year, the 2010-2011
Student Council found their
solution. They came up with a
proposal to take this problem to the
classroom, eliciting the help from
Emily Messa, Assistant Vice
President of University Services and
the dean of the college, Dean
Patricia Oliver. The proposal was a
success, and a grant was received to
fund the recycling receptacles
project in Industrial Design 3500
taught by Assistant Professor Adam
Wells.
Students in the Industrial Design
course will now work in teams to
design a modular system that will
allow students in the building to
recycle more aluminum, paper and
plastic. The team will have to make
sure their concept has the data and
statistics to prove it is more
efficient and be able to hold a
volume of recycling for a four-week
period. The modular system also must
be able to fit into a
three-square-foot box and withstand
liquids.
“This project will help encourage
the student to learn about material
properties, as well as manufacturing
processes. This will benefit the
Industrial Design students by
allowing them to design a simple
solution for an actual problem,” as
stated in the Student Council’s
proposal.
The project will last six weeks and
consist of three stages and
critiques: research and conceptual
sketches; scale models and full
scale mock ups; and final prototype
with statistics and production
costs. The final prototype will be
placed throughout the building and
provide a quality and convenient
receptacle to encourage recycling.
The 2010-2011 College of
Architecture Student Council
Representatives expressed their
mission and motivation in bringing
the new project to their curriculum
stating, “The Gerald D. Hines
College of Architecture Student
Council is comprised of student
representatives committed to the
achievement, promotion and
facilitation of a collaborative
design community; therefore, we
believe it is crucial to be a
visible student organization in our
college. As architects and designers
in training, it is our
responsibility to promote and be
environmentally conscious. Thus, we
decided to implement our skills,
knowledge and resources to address
the recycling problem at our college
with an interactive and
collaborative project that
incorporates student involvement
with functionality to create a
design solution for the current
problem.”
For tips on going green or for more
information on green programs at UH,
visit
www.uh.edu/green.
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