Because my forte is looking at the big picture and seeing the connections (shameless plug: tell me - what kind of jobs should I be looking for right now?), our time in Tempe, Arizona was a playfield for me. I am going to denote all connections in my head as ‘CXN.’ This will give you an insight into the much sought-after inner workings of my brain.
Our events at Arizona State University were made possible in large part by Rod Groff, the Program Manager at the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability, Kate Widland (’02 Scholar) who now works at the Salt River Project, and to Udall Foundation Trustee Mike Rappoport. Kate joined us for most of our tours, and for dinner.
In exploring how innovative and cutting-edge ASU’s contribution to environmental service is, we stopped first at the Biodesign Institute. After a grueling 10 minute stroll (ah! sun!) that left us sweating and panting, we stepped into the cool air of the Biodesign Institute, Arizona state’s first LEED Platinum certified building.
Kim Ovitt gave us an introduction to the Biodesign Institute, which houses programs which serve to find biological solutions to our shared health and environmental problems. The building’s engineer and architect who worked on the project joined us and talked to us about the concept, design, and certification of the connected buildings, highlighting how they took into account the purpose of the building - glass allows the exchange of light and communications into research labs.
When we walked into our next stop was at the Decision Theater, we were handed 3-D glasses. John Fink, ASU VP for Research and Economic Affairs, showed us what the Decision Theater was all about.
Photo courtesy of: Dustin Hampton, Decision Theater
We filed into a circular room, clothed in 5 floor-to-ceiling screens which supported video-game like simulations of city planning decisions, in real time, in real 3-D.
-Toggle drought and withdrawal scenarios – find out data for groundwater depletion.
-Look at a map of the city, zoom down to a 3-D ground-level view – see what happens when you change building height regulations.
-You will soon be able to go below ground also, so that policy makers can know whether actions will disrupt water mains or electrical wires.
This has cut some city decision processes from months to one hour.
CXN: These simulations resembled stuff happening at Google Earth, where Crystal had been working for a few months.
CXN: John Fink mentioned how many universities the Phoenix area has relative to another city of similar size: Philadelphia, where we had visited. They also did a population projection of the area versus Chicago, where we’d visited, concluding that Phoenix would reach a Chicago size in the next few years, based on the population growth projection models. They showed the other megalopolises modelers have been discussing: Sun Valley or Sun Belt (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson – so long Colorado River!), SoCal, NoCal, Cascadia (Portland, Tacoma, Seattle), Piedmont (Chicago, Milkwaukie, parts of Indiana and Ohio), Peninsula (Florida), Southeast (Louisiana, Houston, etc.), Northeast, I-35 corridor (Dallas, Oklahoma City, Kansas City). We were there - to all except Florida!
CXN: they’re teaming up with the UW and Seattle to build a decision theater, and with China. (woo!)
CXN: My friend sitting next to me – Yuling Jia - had just transferred with her advisor to ASU from Rice, having arrived in Tempe 4 days prior from a visit to friends and family in Chengdu (I met her during my study abroad 3 years ago at Sichuan University in Chengdu). John Fink, our presenter, had been in Chengdu a month prior.
And the world gets even smaller…
CXN: Even my bag that I was carrying was from my friend Kui Li (l, f) I met while working at Earthcorps last year, who also went to Sichuan University, which is how she also knew my friend Jia Yuling (L, F).
Next on our tour was the Arizona Public Service Company (APS) Solar Test and Research (STAR) Center. There, Jim Quaid gave us an introduction to solar power testing in Arizona, and gave us a tour of the grounds. To find more viable alternatives burning fossil fuels to keep our economy running, they are testing new generations of solar arrays which seek to concentrate the sunlight to increase their efficiency, which rotate in 2 ways to follow the sun.
The following day, we visited the Salt River Project (SRP), a power and water utility for the area – 3rd largest in the nation! We were treated generously and guided by Victoria Cummiskey, Sid Friar, Herjinder Hawkins, and Udall Trustee Mike Rappoport. They showed us a utility seeking to establish a community connection, working to ensure that there will be water and a healthy environment for future generations. They have been seeking substitutes and incentives to increase the share of renewable energy sources in their portfolio. I hope that their collaborations with other utilities continue and that we continue to have utilities which support finding viable and sustainable energy solutions.
By: Kayanna Warren
