Richard - need your input on the schedule and please post your qualifications as well. I will work on the conclusion later tonight. Got called in to work early yesterday and need to head back right now. Won't be off until 8pm. thanks guys! and everyone - feel free to edit what I have put down. I have no ego on this kind of stuff...just make sure it rocks! =)

Hey all, i added some edits last night. Please feel free to revise what i added (especially the section where we describe each member of the team - i feel like i sounded cheesey). Like Jennfier said, no ego here either!

I'll post my info later tonight. Meanwhile, I mentioned some of this over on webcampus, but:
1) GCA does in fact own the building.
2) There is a company (upper management, really) aesthetic that will not allow table/floor lamps.
3) Changing the lighting type from fluorescent would be pretty expensive and would probably take way too long to pay off.
4) A series of motion detectors that control different zones would also be more expensive, and would involve considerably more research. Also, someone working in one area without moving much doesn't set off motion detectors unless there's a motion detector for every cube, which would definitely be prohibitively expensive.
5) Timers or automatic programming are a bit more realistic, but since people's schedules can vary fairly widely from day to day or week to week, I'm pretty sure the company would rather have regular switches. Also, the switches are currently by the exits, so everyone goes by them to get out of the building, but getting up to turn the light back on after a timer expired can be a bit of a walk.

The fonts and stuff were completely wikified, so I edited the source directly and cleaned all that up. In addition, I removed the part about ownership of the building (since it is a non-issue) and mentioned some of the disadvantages of the timer/motion detector models. I also put a link to the preliminary gantt chart I posted earlier, feel free to edit (since I kinda made up the dates). Just make sure not to give me all the primary research within a 1-week period or anything crazy like that, LOL.

Okay, I'm working on it now...I will finalize and save as a .doc as well. I will also submit via WebCampus tonight. FYI - I'm on campus all day Tuesdays and Thursdays. I work Friday-Monday. I'm online T-Th frequently, the rest of the time, infrequently.

Disregard the .doc comment. I thought we had to submit tonight for a peer review, but it's for an optional instructor review. So, we can all continue to work on it. I will send Dr. S an email now letting her know that we would like to submit for her review and send her a link. I will also copy all team members.

Sounds good!

excellent. you all are have done so much and i feel like i've done so little!!! i am revising the current material and adding what i can (based on the info we have and what is prudent).

jeff h

Sounds great. I can take a look at the Gant Chart if we're still interested.

Seriously you two, get a name!

Like I said, I pretty much did that Gantt chart with made-up data because Jenn was having troubles with formatting it. Certainly, feel free to improve it. Also, once it's more-or-less final, we can do a screenshot, upload the file, and make it an inline image in the web page instead of a separate download.

test.

FInally!!! i got my account to cooperate.

Relax... my request was approved by the administrator this morning :)P

You are generally in good shape here. I think you might be conflating "primary and secondary research" and "primary and secondary research questions." One thing that's missing here is an explicit discussion of your research questions. You could use a subheading somewhere in your methodology section for "Research Questions." Your primary research question is the main question that you're trying to answer, which is something like "What's the most effective way for Global Access to reduce energy costs and reduce electricity consumption associated with lighitng in the office areas." Your secondary research questions are then all of the questions you need to answer in order to answer that main question: How much does lighting cost now? What are the alternatives? How have other companies resolved this problem? What's the cost/benefit of each alternative? etc.

You already have a whole slew of secondary questions peppered throughout, so you already have most of what you need. In the area where you have primary and secondary research bulleted out right now, you'll want to attach those research questions to a specific type of research. You have a lot of things that fall into the category of Site Visit/Observation, you might also have Surveys, or Interviews. Primary research is any research where you generate the original data, so Site Visits, Interviews, Surveys, etc, are all primary research. Secondary research is library or internet research you do to ferret out existing information (how have other companies handled similar problems? what's the price per kilowatt? etc.)

You have a good Gantt chart started and that provides a tracking system for your overall project, to parcel out research assignments, you might find it helpful to convert that info to a table that identifies
Question to be answered Type of Research P/S Means of answering (Site visit, library, etc) Source of Information (Dave in accounting, Lighting News TodayUNLV database) Person assigned (I'll try to add a tabular example up above...)


You're in generally good shape. Remember that in your obstacles section you can address both some of the logistical issues you'll have with research but also any logistical/time management/work load issues the team might have (i.e. Jennifer can only work while standing on her head in a Superman cape; Jeffrey is available from 1 a.m. to 1:15 on Wednesdays and Sundays; etc.)

So how should we proceed from here all?

Ok, so i made changes to the "Research" section of the proposal draft. I formatted the questions in the same manner that Dr. S presented that example.

I started filling in some of the tasks that i thought i would be capable of doing, but it seems that a disproportionate amount of the research is going to have to be done by Richard unless we can devise some other way to execute this. Any thoughts?

Please make changes as you see fit!! :)

(Btw, for some reason when i log in under "Jeffrey" it doesn't allow me to edit, so i have to switch to my "wikiuser0010" account to actually make changes ---> super lame).

Hmm Jeffrey, how do you plan on finding out via the internet what the wattage of the bulbs here is? I was kinda planning on taking a look at one to find that out.

Richard, I was just under the assumption that the fluorescent bulbs in your office would be standard loads (40 watts). I certainly could be wrong though... :)

Great Proposal. I do not see any problem s with it.

Jeffrey, when we know the load all we need to do to find out how much electricity they use is math. But I think it's a good idea to check to make sure they are 40 watts (or whatever), because if it turns out they're different that would be a huge basic error that would ruin all our calculations.

Okay all, how do we pursue Red Team Review for another group? Shall we just go ahead and review team 2? How will we partition it up?

I dunno, I'm a little lost right now on what's due when (between scheduling changes via email and whatever). Any recommendations?

Since we’re all working on different timeframes why don't we all review the document separately, and I can compile the information into one document? It would probably only require a few sentences in each section. Any thoughts?

I posted my thoughts on our discussion board on webcampus (appended to Jeffrey's post).

wow, you guys did so much in 3 days!

Question: what are all of our recommendations? Would it be to install motion detectors, additional light switches, restructuring the work areas, aslternative work weeks? Remember, it's not about what we think will be well received, it's about what the research has presented us. Thanks guys!

My understanding is that a combination of (1) rewiring to divide the lighting sections into more areas (additional zones) (2) additional switches, and (3) motion detectors would serve our proposal well.

I posted a couple of changes. If we're going to talk about the energy efficiency of CFLs, we need to talk about them as compared to T8 fluorescent bulbs (the type in use) not vs. incandescent. I've posted some links there if someone wants to do the research (if not, I can do it; I just know some group members were concerned about having enough of their own work on this project since I had to be the only one to do the primary onsite research).

Unless I'm completely lost, T8 bulbs are what are recommended by energysavers.gov as an energy efficient CFL. Incandescent is not suggested at all, T12 and T8's are according to that website. As a result, if the company is utilizing the most efficient CFL suggested, I don't see the point of addressing that - except maybe to advise them of such and/or show them that they are taking steps and encourage them to take it a step further.

I will be tackling this tomorrow as well as making comments to the review the other team submitted via webcampus. Also, I will submit this page to them right now via webcampus for their review. I will also copy into a .doc for them for their input.

T8 are regular fluorescent, not compact fluorescent. CFLs are the type you can screw into a regular socket; the ones starting with "T" and then a number are Tubes (and the number indicates how many eighths of an inch in diameter they are, so T8 is a one-inch wide tube). The reason I think we should talk about it vs. CFL is because any analysis of task lighting has to include the efficiency of the bulbs used; CFLs are inherently less efficient than regular fluorescents, but the question is "by how much?" We have to consider that because task lighting involves using fewer bulbs (i.e. if one person is there in a department, there need be only one task light lit, vs. a whole zone of overheads). Task lighting does answer the question of getting EACH PERSON their own switch; but it brings up other issues (additional cost of replacement bulbs, the initial cost of a large number of independent lamps, plus the difficulty in figuring out the fewer bulbs in use vs. less efficient bulbs in use debate).

This looks like your research proposal that I didn't have a score for. I'll get your grades for that posted ASAP; you should be in A-range there. The real challenge here is going to be in your background section where you identify the problem. As-is you're assuming that what makes "lighting an entire airplane hangar so four people can work graveyard in various locations inside the airplane hangar" a problem is self-evident. And while it may be self-evident, you must still in this sort of a report clearly define the problem: What is the problem? Why is it a problem? WHo is it a problem for? My best guess would be that it's a problem for the company, because they are wasting x-dollars a day lighting space for hundreds when they only need light for a few people. So, that's one possible version of the problem. Another version and probably less compelling unless your company is as earth-friendly as Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream used to be is that wasting electricity is bad for everyone, especially bad for Las Vegans because we live in a desert and have scarce resources and high temps and super-freakin' high airconditioning bills and wasting electricity hurts our pocket books and impedes our long-term ability to live in the desert, etc. So, you have possibly an economic problem, possibly a sustainability problem, possibly both. For the recommendation report, you can follow quite specifically the assignment sheet, but don't forget that chapter 19 in the textbook is also pretty much a step-by-step guide to pulling together a recomendation report. As long as you follow one model (assignment sheet) or the other (textbook) you should be in good shape. Remember that you should tie your solutions back to your stated problem. If the problem is financial, then you need lots of details about costs. If the problem is environmental sustainability, then you'll want lots of details about costs/benefits of various options in terms of reducing needless use of a resource.

Remember that for the recommendation report, those parts of the Research Proposal or Progress Report that address work that is to be done or timelines/schedules for doing work or responsbilities for doing the work all go away. Your client only needs to know: what's the problem?(background/statement of problem)/ what are your recommendations for fixing the problem? (recommendations)/ how did you arrive at that conclusion?(methodology)/ what are the details that support your recommendation (findings). You should integrate your research sources into your recommendations where relevant. Discuss your research findings in more detail in the findings section, but again, only include research directly relevant to your recommendations. Recommendations should address the strengths and weaknesses of various options considered and clearly identify the criteria you used for selecting solutions to the problem. (i.e. To be considered an effective solution to this problem, the solution could not cost more than $12, must incorporate the labor of magical sprites, and could not in any way involve the color red.) If you have exhibits or miscellaneous information that you think some of your readers would like to see (for example architectural plans) that don't fit easily into your standard page size, include them as Appendix items. Anything included the appendix should be referenced and discussed in the body of the report.