Solar photovoltaics
paper must incorporate research that supports and informs your evaluation.
A simple definition of “technology” is a useful tool to a solve a problem. Technology can be a method,
system, or device that is a result of scientific knowledge being used for practical purposes (Collins
Online Dictionary, 2021).
Sustainable design technologies provide a good or perform a service. They are part of our infrastructure and support our human habitats and greater ecosystem. Sustainable design
technologies have diverse spatial applications from a public street or building to a private residence.
Above all, sustainable design technologies seek to eliminate energy and material wastes and support
and enhance living systems and human communities.
. You will evaluate your selected sustainable design technology
in terms of energy performance, materials, and the impact that it has on wildlife, natural systems and
human health and wellbeing.
1) At the beginning of your submission briefly introduce the selected technology. What are its
applications (how/why is it used)? How does it operate? What are its energy and material
requirements?
2) Evaluate the selected technology as a sustainable product or system in terms of energy
performance, materials, impacts on biodiversity, and the enhancement of human health and wellbeing.
Questions to consider and address include:
How does the selected technology (method, system, or device)…
– Conserve energy?
– Eliminate wasted energy and material wastes?
– Use renewable sources of energy and reduce energy losses?
– Use materials that have been recycled, are durable, are non-toxic, and have low embodied
energy and embodied resources, such as water required for manufacturing or minerals mined
from the earth’s crust?
– Replicate and/or support natural systems, such as biogeochemical (nutrient) cycles?
– Minimize impacts on ecosystems?
– Support and enhance biodiversity and human health and wellbeing?
Your selected technology might not touch on all the above categories. Note the categories that your
project does address and note areas for improvement.
3) How could the selected technology be more holistically “sustainable” based on the above criteria?
Your paper should include supporting visual materials, such as photographs and/or illustrative
diagrams, that explain how the selected technology operates.
Cite your sources. Do this internally, parenthetically, for every piece of information that you include
that references an external source and/or describes specific information that you have gathered in your
research. List all of your resources in a short bibliography or “works cited” at the end of your paper.
Include a descriiptive caption for each of the images that you present.
SUBMISSION and GRADING CRITERIA:
You will submit a short research paper that is 3-4 written pages in length without supporting visual
materials. Your submission is DUE on Monday, November 22 at 9pm.
Your submission will be graded based on the following assessment categories and is worth 40
points.
Individual Short Essay – Content includes:
• A brief descriiption of how the sustainable design technology that you have selected 1) reduces
energy and material wastes 2) supports the healthy function of the biogeochemical (nutrient)
cycles, 3) counters and/or slows the build up of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and 4)
enhances biodiversity and human health and wellbeing _____ / 5
• A brief discussion of current research on the sustainable design technology that you have
selected. What are the current applications of the technology? How has the technology evolved over time based on scientific knowledge and research? Is there anything to note in terms of
innovation and where the technology is headed in the future? _____ / 5
Supporting evidence, gathered from your research and resources, that has informed your
assessment of the selected technology _____ / 5
Your own informed, personal conclusions about whether or note the selected technology is
holistically sustainable and, if not, where there is room for improvement _____ / 5
• Paper includes internal citations and a bibliography that has a consistent format in accordance
with APA style guidelines. _____ / 5
Please see the following website from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab for an overview of
APA style:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/
general_format.html
•All sources, including Internet sources, are appropriately cited in the body of your text.
Internal, parenthetical citations are used whenever you quote or paraphrase someone
else’s work, including any information downloaded from the Internet.
Sources are diversified. Your references may include course resources (articles and chapters
from books) and periodical sources. These periodical sources should be from peer-
reviewed journals.
