Develop an outline for your mid-semester presentations. What supporting evidence will you provide for each point? How will you boost your credibility every step of the way?
- Intro
- Overview stress/mindfulness in the world and on campus–discuss the nature deficit
- Project solution is to create biophilic structures on campus that integrate nature into daily student life
- Started with the solution of a living wall
- Began research looking at the big picture. Researched different benefits of a living wall and all of the factors it addresses such as air quality, filtration, nature deficit, hydroponics, food, and plants.
- Designed a survey for students/faculty to see how they would want this living wall to look like, but never released it
- Created problem statement 1
- After discussions with Khanjan and Chris Kauzman surrounding our project and goals, we realized while we had a solution, we didn’t have a definitive problem to solve. We were trying to put the cart before the horse. This led to us trying to find all the problems we could solve with a living wall. If we continued down this path, we would have created a product that tried to solve 5 problems and did not address a single one well.
- Redefining our project
- Had discussions with our project mentors, Khanjan, Katherine, and Brian, to discuss why they established this project, how we could incorporate different aspects of sustainability, and if this project should even be focused on building a “living wall.”
- Interviewed students to better understand the problem
- Created problem statement #2, set project goals based on this problem statement.
- Set our goals based on it/Brainstormed more ways we could take the project
- The continual process
- Had another meeting with Chris and realized that our solution was still embedded in our problem statement/our goals were too broad.
- Revised our problem statement again.
- Future
- Discuss how we will address challenges we currently face
- Discuss our next steps
Develop at least 30 FAQs about your project.
Questions: What kind of questions might your customers, investors, and other stakeholders have about your work?
Answers: For each question, come up with a concise and precise response.
How is your wall different from others across the world?
Our wall was created with student wellness as our priority. We wanted to create a social space that was beneficial to studying, socially stimulating, and ultimately help improve stress levels. The focus on wellness means that our wall is meant to be interactive and enjoyable, so please let us know about your experience with it!
What benefits does your wall bring to the Lehigh community?
The living wall will be a space where students can find nature indoors, even in the middle of winter. A green space offers many benefits. Most importantly, a living wall will provide a study space that will help improve wellness in students through stress reduction. Other benefits include improved air quality and building temperature control.
Can I participate in the living wall project?
You can! You determine your level of participation. We encourage you to interact with our wall by studying near it. We plan on creating some events or club that deal with the maintenance and design of the wall. If you want to participate more, you can also join the living wall CSIF project.
What makes this wall fit Lehigh sustainability goals?
The wall itself is a sustainability goal. It also fits in with goals regarding the health and wellness of our student population and campus engagement. This project will be as environmentally sustainable as we can make it, with recycled materials and low energy usage.
What does success look like to your team?
To us, success is seeing people interact with our wall, and hearing students say that it has helped them. Students are our main audience and we want to know that they feel as though their experience at Lehigh has been improved by being around the wall. Ideally, we want to hear that students have been feeling less stressed when interacting with the wall. If we are finding that most people have found it to be a nuisance, or that it needs to be improved or one way or another, we will go back to the drawing board to see if we can create a product that works better.
How will you measure your success both in the short and long term?
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- Short term success will be measured by the amount of interaction our wall receives
- Long term success will be measured by the amount of installations we have.What led you to identify your problem as needing to increase mindfulness?
We identified our problem as needing to increase mindfulness by first wanting to reduce stress in students. We knew that nature had been proven to reduce stress, but we weren’t exactly sure how it would apply to a student setting. Mindfulness was one of the ways that we identified being a method of reducing stress and as an effect of being exposed to nature, so it seemed like the natural next step would be to focus on increasing mindfulness with our living wall.
Why is mindfulness an issue that needs to be addressed?
Mindfulness is an issue that needs to be addressed due to the fact that Lehigh is known for being difficult and taking a lot of time to do well in certain courses. Having said that, students are known to be stressed and there are many avenues you can take that Lehigh offers to address that like a free subscription to Headspace which is a meditation app or something like a Wellness Week which serves as a week to relax and destress during the middle of the semester. However, we think that a living wall/space can also help with mindfulness for people who love nature, since being in nature is proven to decrease stress which we will also prove with our prototype.
Why choose a living wall to help achieve the goal of increased mindfulness?
Exposure to nature is a proven method of decreasing stress and feeling at peace. Studies have linked nature exposure with decreased stress, blood pressure, and other health benefits, and it is common practice to take a walk or sit outdoors when you need to take a break from the world. Taking these factors into consideration, it only makes sense that including a living wall in an indoor space would increase the inhabitants’ mindfulness.
How does your wall differentiate itself from other living walls/green spaces on other college campuses?
Our wall will be different from other living walls because rather than being a wall that is integrated into the actual building structure, we will make a structure that can be implemented in any office space and moved around.
Where do you plan on putting this wall?
The first iteration of this wall is going to be constructed at Building C. Aside from mountaintop residing at building C and the creation-friendly, fool-proof warehouse structure, Building C offers a unique opportunity to model the idea of a living space as the space shifts (through ceiling cranes and lots of whiteboard moving) every year.
How are we planning to measure the impact of the wall?
Measuring the impact of the wall will be very difficult, however, asking stakeholders who specialize in measuring something like culture or mental health will be very beneficial. For example, Reset Outdoors, a local mental health service, specializes in treating their patients in nature/outdoors, so asking them how exactly they measure how well they did for their patients will be very helpful.
How will building policies/requirements play a part in our project
In entering the construction process for this wall, we want to ensure that the design of the living wall is as sustainable as Lehigh’s newest buildings. This could be designing a product that meets the standards of rating systems such as LEED, or implementing a system to maintain the plants on the wall that utilizes greener energy, such as hydroponics. These policies and requirements will essentially shape our project so that we consider minimal waste and green energy as we assess all components of the building process.
How will we account for time people are off campus (over breaks when no maintenance)?
Hopefully, one of the aspects of our wall is that it will be able to take care of itself for a certain amount of time- whether that be by using plants that don’t require constant maintenance or engineering a system that takes care of the plants for us in those off seasons.
What factors will we be considering in choosing plants?
We want to ensure that the plants we choose are as adaptable to their environments as possible; for an indoor wall or space, this would mean using plants that respond best to LED lights and can thrive in room temperature environments. Furthermore, we want to think about how the plants physically look and take up space so that we can create the most aesthetically pleasing look, since a more beautiful wall will appeal to people more. In thinking about space occupation specifically, we should rule out plants that easily get tangled and tend to grow to be several feet, as these will be hard to maintain within the confines of our limited space. Overall, the primary factors that we are considering in this process are maintenance and physical look, since we want to make the care-taking process as easy as possible while also presenting the most aesthetically pleasing wall.
In what ways are we planning to implement cradle-2-cradle design? Also what is cradle-2-cradle design?
Cradle-2-cradle design means designing a product such that when it’s primary purpose has been fulfilled, the entirety of the product can be reused, recycled, or decomposed. Some ways we are planning to implement this design process is by pairing with the plastech team to create the structure from recycled materials & by using a greywater system.
How will we ensure we are conducting safe psychological surveys? Have we considered the IRB approval process?
We will ensure that any research conducted in regards to human subjects will be ethical by following guidelines for ethical research set by Lehigh. We will also be getting IRB approval before collecting data.
What do you think could go wrong with this project?
Many things can go wrong with this project including doing all this research and work and later on finding out that the living wall has little to no effect on students at all. With every project though, there is always some risk involved and that’s where you just have to take a chance and run with it.
What are the major risks to the project’s success?
Maintaining the wall/space so that the plants are well kept and all systems involved—such as the watering/nutrient systems—are running smoothly may be hard to ensure. If the plants are not properly cared for, then they will wilt and this project will quickly fail to carry out its goals of providing a beautiful environment that increases mindfulness in those who seek to work there. Other risks include the placement of the wall, since we want to choose a space that is easily accessible to everyone, as well as choosing plants that will grow well together in a bordered space.
In what ways will this project be a solution to the problems?
The chief problem we seek to address is decreasing the amount of stressed students on campus; thus we believe that creating a living wall/green space will achieve this and increase mindfulness within students because through our research, we have found that increased exposure to nature can help decrease stress levels and stimulate mental recovery. Additionally, we strive to design our project as sustainably as possible, so hopefully it will serve as a blueprint for creating more biophilic infrastructure at Lehigh, as is one of Lehigh’s 2030 sustainability goals. We also hope that this wall/space will purify the air, act as a buffer for noise, and regulate humidity/temperature levels.
Why are we passionate about this project?
We are passionate about this project because we have all experienced both the moments of stress and monotony that come with being a college student. So, in thinking about this project and designing a new, green space to work in, we envision just how happy students would be working in a pleasant environment that puts more emphasis on mindfulness and serenity in the workspace.
How can you all see yourselves deriving benefit from your project?
As Lehigh students ourselves, we understand the extent of the stress problem and are that much more driven to help combat it. Thus, we see ourselves deriving benefit from our project because we too will hopefully get to interact with it if built soon; if not, we still would benefit from the extra nature space that future students will get to take advantage of as escape and new outlet for productivity.
How might a continuation of this project look like?
A continuation of this project would probably include building other living walls on campus due solely to our project. We would have already done all the research and work on a working living wall that others can just follow in our footsteps. Also, people at other universities can follow in our footsteps, since the purpose of our living wall is very unique compared to most living walls which are built just for aesthetics.
What have we learned about the design thinking process?
From our process thus far, we have learned about the iterative nature of the design process. We have also learned the importance of defining an explicit problem statement that gives no reference to possible solutions, because it is only when the problem statement is well defined that one can begin to brainstorm solutions.
How can this project extend to more areas within Lehigh?
Currently, we are planning to prototype inside building C because of its open floor plan and warehouse structure. Future iterations of this project could be tasked with creating more living walls to be incorporated into the UC addition and other parts of campus.
How can this project eventually extend to other users outside of Lehigh?
As said earlier, our living wall which is meant to increase mindfulness is very unique and isn’t seen anywhere else. Having such a unique idea for college campuses specifically causes other universities to follow suit, since stress is such a universal thing that affects all students.
What campus systems do we need to communicate with to ensure the success of our project?
Campus HVAC systems, students, staff, campus maintenance
Who are our external stakeholders?
Companies such as SolTech or Lehigh Valley Hydroponics, Dr. J’s eco-friendly fungi could be potential stakeholders because they all sell components of our wall, like certain plants, lighting, and nutrients.
How will we find more stakeholders?
We will attempt to find more stakeholders by observing both the interactions between people and our system, as well as pitching our idea to universities and businesses to see what sectors are interested in using our system. Especially important would be to take not of what they plan to use it for specifically, and why they want it in the first place so we can identify common stakeholders.
How will we utilize what we research into bettering our structure/spreading info?
We will need to research how exactly different types of plants grow, and how students respond to different types/levels of nature. Once we research these things, we will use this information to optimize our wall to meet our goals of improving access to nature on campus and reducing stress in students.