Sustainability-minded
As with most institutions, sustainability at Cal Poly is a phenomenon that has made headway on campus in large part through grassroots organizers. It is a movement that often begins with a new way of doing an old task; that is, to change the status quo while upholding environmental, economic and social implications to the highest standards. Up until this point, the sphere of sustainability has but only crept into our minds as a subset of related fields of study, whether it be in the design of our buildings, the management of energy or even our individual impacts on the earth. In fact, sustainability in all its glory is deserving of a tangential stand alone field of research. This being said, the next logical progression towards developing sustainability ideas, projects, events, initiatives and research is in the form of a centralized gathering place, a sustainability center.
The history of Powerhouse
For the past several years, students of EDES 410, an environmental design independent study course, have attempted to develope a sustainability center on campus. The building of choice is called Powerhouse, a 100-year-old building that sits at the corner of S. Perimeter Road and Cuesta Avenue that once powered the majority of the Cal Poly campus and has been recently added to the National Historic Registry. The Powerhouse is the oldest standing building on the Cal Poly campus, and from 1909 to 1950, supplied Cal Poly with heat and light for use in other buildings, making it a central component to the campus energy system. When functional, the power generation equipment consisted of a 50 hp return tubular boiler oilburner, an 18 indicated hp Bailey upright engine, and a 6-1/2 kW generator.
Student Advocates for A Sustainability Center
Students enrolled in EDES 410 and members of the Empower Poly Coalition made attempts at developing the Powerhouse into a sustainability hub on campus where students and faculty could deploy sustainability-led research projects. In 2007, an Environmental Design class wrote, that “it is our vision to rebuild the structure using student labor (with professional assistance) and Cal Poly’s signature ‘Learn by doing’ motto to re-envision and re-purpose the Powerhouse in a modern and sustainable context. It will now generate a new form of power by empowering Cal Poly students with sustainable values, skills and knowledge as they prepare themselves for the professional world. It was with that spirit in mind that the Powerhouse’s new motto was coined: “Generating Sustainable Generations.” Unfortunately, this positive and uplifting vision has since been lost as the drive from this group of students, as with many on campus, dissolved upon graduation.
So where does the project stand now?
The Powerhouse is currently owned by the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED). The potential for redeveloping the Powerhouse came with the heightened interest with the EDES 410 project in 2007, and has since fallen by the wayside. During the course of the student project, an estimator valued a retrofit at $4.5 million dollars, a substantial amount of money for a relatively small structure. In March of 2007, Cal Poly entered the Powerhouse renovation project into the California Cultural and Historic Endowment competition, which if selected, would have received $780,000. Cal Poly won 2nd place, and therefore did not receive funding, meaning that many of the matching funds that private donors initially agree to put forth were pulled from the project. Since this contest, the Powerhouse has not made any significant advancements towards rehabilitation of any kind. This is where we, as students, come into the picture.
The time is now
As a student at Cal Poly, I hold several leadership roles that I feel hold the very solution towards empowering the Powerhouse project forward. These include positions as the director of The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), ASI CAED Board of Directors and the Empower Poly vice president. But I can’t do this alone. We need energetic students who are willing to spend time conceptualizing plans, talking with students, faculty, staff and especially administrators so that everyone is on board. There will be a Powerhouse Stakeholders Meeting on November 13th from 12 to 1 p.m. in UU 218. Members of the Cal Poly community who would like more information about the Powerhouse and the current status of the project should attend this event and get involved.
What’s to come
Imagine a place on campus that fosters creativity, endorses innovation and promotes outside-the-box thinking. I see this ‘place’ all over campus, but not directly correlated to sustainability. A sustainability hub would further accentuate a place to network with colleagues, research emerging technologies and envision new methods for devising sustainability at Cal Poly. If you share this vision with me, then I need your help. Developing a sustainability center on campus can be made a reality. All that is needed is the backing from students, committed faculty and support from administration. Let’s join forces and get this project rolling. The future simply cannot wait.
Tyler Hartrich is a city and regional planning senior, Empower Poly Coalition vice president and Mustang Daily columnist .
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