Health & Wellness
Our chief concern going forward with our project is to address how implementing a green space would improve health and wellness among students, such as productivity and happiness. Just like Goal 15 of this section outlines, we strive to create a starting model for biophilic infrastructure that could inspire future architectural designs at Lehigh, as an increase in biodiversity has many benefits, specifically many related to mental health. Additionally, we are strongly considering the use of hydroponics to nurture the plants that would be in the space we create, which further aligns our project with this focus area.
Culture & Engagement
Proceeding with our project could not happen without the engagement of other people on Lehigh’s campus. To receive this input, we will distribute a survey for students and faculty members where they can express their preferences in regards to nature, working environments, and other details relevant to the establishment of a living wall. Furthermore, their survey responses will enable these members to indirectly participate in conducted research on the prototype of the living wall, since that will be a guiding factor in the direction our team heads in. As we continue to brainstorm, we must also reach out to stakeholders around Lehigh to build a better picture of where the living wall is going to be and how the wall can operate. Lastly, Lehigh personnel can engage with the living wall when the project is finished.
Campus Operations
Building a living wall/green space on campus would have a large impact on how Lehigh’s campus functions. As is an emphasized goal of the Sustainability Strategic Plan, the living wall could be a gateway into inspiring future renovations and building designs to incorporate more sustainable practices and contribute to a “Built Environment”. Similarly, we must collect and utilize data—such as from our surveys and potentially data about Lehigh’s buildings—to build a wall that falls within range of what is capable at Lehigh and is most tailored to the wants and needs of its members.
Education
The CSIF program itself is helping to accomplish the goals in the Education focus area. We are learning a lot about sustainable architecture and plant biodiversity. Hopefully once our wall is built it will inspire other students to start learning about climate change. Also, if maintaining the wall becomes a student responsibility, those students will have the opportunity to learn about maintaining plant life.
Climate Action
One of the goals on the climate action focus plan is to purchase carbon offsets to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases on campus. Since plants are a natural carbon offset because they take carbon in the air and turn it into oxygen, our wall could be the starting point to help reduce those emissions. Living walls have the advantage of being vertical gardens that don’t take up much space, so while our prototype probably won’t be the sole reason that carbon is being reduced from the air, it could be the starting point to increase the amount of greenery across campus in a lot of new and creative ways.
Focused leadership
In making this wall, we are looking to other schools such as University of Delaware and Drexel as inspiration and guidance. Once our prototype is complete, Lehigh can also be a center of attention when it comes to building living walls. This attention can also bring attention to our other sustainable goals and push Lehigh higher up in sustainability leadership among universities.
1.Review the six focus areas in the Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030. Identify and describe in detail how your project aligns with one or more of the focus areas. Be sure to think outside of the box. Each project aligns with more than one focus area, although it might not be immediately obvious.
- Identify the key Lehigh University-based and external stakeholders for your project. For each stakeholder:
Describe what their interest in your project might be.
What resources might they provide?
How does your work further their goals?
How might you engage with them?
Maintenance
While maybe there is no academic interest in our project for the maintenance staff, there is certainly interest regarding their daily tasks and purview. Frankly, this wall is going to create more work for the maintenance team, so their interest during the development process will likely be about minimizing what is required of the maintenance staff, while their interest after installation will be about what is required of them to keep the wall up and running once it is completed. Maintenance could provide a variety of resources, including skilled labor and quite literally the tools to manage our project through repairs, replacements, and additions.
As far as furthering the maintenance team’s goals, making green spaces could be either very helpful or a hindrance. On the one hand, green spaces make a room look better, help with noise pollution, and even have some effect on air quality. However, if we use plants that drop leaves, produce pollen, or are walls are generally difficult to take care of, it may bring the maintenance team further away from their goals as they get caught up in trying to prevent our wall from a catastrophic water system failure. So, we will make our design with the maintenance team in mind–we have already begun conversing with facilities staff about limitations we need to set to make our care expectations feasible. By involving facilities staff with our design process hopefully we will not only make an easy to maintain project, but also stir up interest!
Students
The primary goal of the living infrastructure created is to positively affect the students on campus. Because of this, the students need to be prioritized as the primary target audience and as stakeholders in our project. From surveys, the students will provide their input on how to create the most impactful living space for our university. From original studies, the students will provide data and input on how the living environment is affecting their productivity, creativity, or perceived happiness. Our work serves to further improve the experiences of students at Lehigh in providing green spaces, so in this way, our work is directly tied to most student’s goals of maximizing their time at university. Because of these factors, our team will be gaining input from the student body at several points throughout our project to ensure that our work is directly aligned with the needs of the student body.
Faculty/staff
The faculty/staff can aid with many parts of our project including the survey aspect and the research/testing aspect later on in the project timeline. Many of the faculty are knowledgeable on many of the topics that our project hones in on, so having their help would be very beneficial. Also, I believe that faculty are always willing to help students do research when it is something that they are very passionate about. Adding to that, I also think that faculty/staff would like to be recognized for their efforts, so if our project includes published research, which it will, faculty would love to help.
External
External interest primarily exists in potential collaborations or consumer partnerships.
Regardless of what direction we take this project, two things are certain; we will need to conduct research and we will require resources to actually build our wall. Companies such as Dr. J’s eco-friendly fungi, the startup of a Lehigh alumnus, are actively looking for ways to work together with Lehigh students as well as studies to test their plant inoculant on. Our living wall will require inoculation, so this would be a mutually beneficial partnership in which we potentially get resources and they get research that supports their product. Other companies such as SolTech or Lehigh Valley Hydroponics also might have interest, as our wall needs products they sell like lighting and nutrients to function, making us a potential customer.