community home energy retrofit project (cherp) · community home energy retrofit project (cherp)...

Lessons Learned / Intern Experience

Achievements / Results / OutcomesProject Descriptions

Catherine LeonFinance Intern

Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP)

Project 1 Website-A breakdown of the four categories and the information that falls under each.-Caters to specific audiences in streamlined manner.

Project 2 Grant Scope-Acquire networking skills to help form a team of individuals from many different fields.-Create a budget for specific project.

Overview of lessons learned… I learned about the green energy economy and all the ways that it can be improved (but isn’t being improved right now).

Successful Strategies:1. Talk to people who would potentially be your target audience.2. Ask questions!3. Weekly meeting check-ins to keep everyone accountable.

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Split current internship position into two; Community Outreach and Grant

Research/Writing and have a clear scope for each individually from the beginning.

Catherine LeonIntern background: Econ-Accounting dual Major with Spanish, Claremont McKenna College ‘19, Portland, Oregon.

Acknowledgements:Kanami Otani, CHERP, Harvey Mudd and Claremont McKenna College.

Project 1: CLGP Website

Project 2: Grant Scope of Work-After being awarded the SCAG grant, we started the process of forming a group comprising of city and state officials as well as CHERP employees to properly allocate the funds.

Project 3: Article Writing-One of the biggest challenges that CLGP faces is providing simple and accessible ways to describe the initiative to possible donors. A large part of my internship was to synthesize and simplify the details of the project and properly present the information to different types of audiences. In order to do this I wrote an article specifically tackling why CLGP is the most economically smart solution to our green energy dilemma.



Daniel McCabeTesting & Verification Intern

Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP)

idealPV Empirical Evidence• Acquired necessary materials and equipment, reconstructed experimental setup• Performed experiment

• Confirmed dynamic conductance trend• Revealed extent of hot spot heating

• Drafting paper to document results

General Lessons: Troubleshooting takes time! Get materials together as soon as possible and focus on getting everything to work.

Successful Strategies:1. Close contact with CLGP team2. Collaboration between students!

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Dedicated materials/space2. Connections across the 5Cs

Dan McCabeSenior engineering major at Harvey Mudd College. Excited about using engineering and math to promote sustainability and equality.

Acknowledgements:Kent Kernahan & Devon Hartman (CLGP); Kanami Otani (Energize Colleges); Zach Evans, Shiv Seetharaman, and Veronica Cortes (HMC volunteers).

Sam Abdelmuati & Pete Sanchez (HMC staff); Pomona College Media Services and Physics Department.

Project : idealPV Empirical Evidence• Replicate idealPV experiment on reverse bias in solar cells• Examine relationship between reverse bias and dynamic conductance of cell• Study temperature of cell under different conditions• Lead team of student volunteers constructing setup and running experiment



Duncan CrowleyFacilities Intern

Harvey Mudd Facilities& Mainenance

Successful Strategies:1. Get dorms to rally each other for savings2. Engage with groups on campus like Engineers for Sustainable Worlds &

GBP 3. Bringing data to the hands of students is empowering.

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Data verification needs to be done early, as granularly as possible 2. Students should have more granular access to their dorm’s information 3. Waste management has not been analyzed for improvement at the

student level

Duncan CrowleyHarvey Mudd College junior majoring in engineering with an emphasis in environmental analysis from Amherst, MA. Eagle Scout.

Working for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA this summer. Enjoys nordic skiing, skateboarding, running and backpacking

Acknowledgements:Troy Hansgen, Hixon Center for Sustainable Environmental Design; specifically Louis Spanias, The Pitzer Green Bike Program

Project 1: PowerDown CompetitionPowerDown is an annual campus energy savings competition between the 5 Colleges and held nationwide by Lucid. I served as the liaison for the Facilities Department in analyzing and sharing data from the competition to students to motivate them to save. I organized and ran events during the competition and worked to ensure the correctness of data.

Project 2: GHG InventoryAn annual reporting task that is part of President Maria Klawe’s Climate Commitment from 2008. Considers the Greenhouse gas emissions of Harvey Mudd on three different scopes:

•Scope 1- Direct Emissions•Scope 2- Indirect Emissions On-Campus•Scope 3- Indirect Emissions Off-Campus

This is being done by myself for 2015 and 2016 data, and we are currently waiting on finalized travel information

From all of the departments on campus.



Ellen BroaddusClaremont McKenna Facilities Intern

CMC Facilities & Campus Services

STARS Report• STARS Report results will be released at a later date• On-going progress with completion of report• Collected helpful baseline data to refer to in future years

Weigh the Waste• Increased transparency • Student involvement/ engagementOver 3 events, we’ve seen a 33% decrease in food waste!

Overview of lessons learned… • CMC already has many great resources; just need to be utilizedSuccessful Strategies:

1. Collaboration across departments2. Visibility and interactive learning3. Positive rhetoric and “can do” attitude

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Set up a transparent database to track quantitative progress 2. Use past data to set up nonexistent programs/institutions 3. Increase visibility on programs that already exist

Ellen BroaddusClaremont McKenna Class of 2020. Science and Management Major interested in Global Health

Acknowledgements:Kanami Otani (Energize Colleges Fellow) and

Kristin Miller (Roberts Environmental Center Program Coordinator & CMC Sustainability Coordinator)

Project 1: STARS Report• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) is a

nonprofit working with social innovation and sustainability • Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) is a self reporting

framework for colleges to measure sustainability• 71 sections including Curriculum, Research, Campus Engagement, Building and Dining

Operations, Purchasing, Waste, and Administration• Work with various departments at CMC• Quantitative and qualitative data collection

Project 2: Weigh the Waste• Interactive educational campaign surrounding food waste• 1-day event where food, recyclables, and other trash from the lunch period are collected

and weighed• data is analyzed and presented via posters/announcements/memos to show the school's

food waste• paired with tips on how to minimize waste and make more sustainable food choices

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Ellen ZhangNet Zero Water Outreach Intern

USGBC - Inland Empire

Outreach for Water Day Symposium

• Designed a flyer for the symposium that was used to market the event

• Reached out to Claremont College to attend the Symposium

• Drafted a press release of the Symposium event

Local Spotlight Project

• Created and introduced to attendees an interactive GIS map to highlight 7 local projects in the Inland Empire that exemplify water conservation strategies

Takeaways 1. Exposure to professionals in my fields of interest: sustainability and

built environment 2. Practice communication skills through interactions with our contacts

in local projects

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. More hands on experience in a planning and design project

Project 1: Water Day Symposium

• Contacted vendors for the Water Day Symposium

• Visited local projects featuring net zero water strategies in the Inland

Empire area

• Contacted and interviewed designers or engineers in La Verne,

Rancho Cucamonga, and Diamond Bar

• Presented the findings of the interviews at the Symposium on a GIS

map

Project 2: High School Outreach

Shared my experience of exploring Green Career with Pomona High

School students

Ellen ZhagCMC’18, Environmental AnalysisCareer Goal: Urban Planning

Acknowledgement:USGBC-IE, Eera BabtiwaleCBWCD, Becky Rittenburg

Experience Gained

Related ActionsProject Description

Erin TullyEnvironmental Services Intern

Southern California Gas Company

● Visited SoCalGas○ Met with Environmental Team○ Interviewed environmental lawyers and consultants○ Worked with supervisor on project

● Will Present to Board of Directors○ Use powerpoint○ Based on research project

Concrete Experience:1. Visited and worked with private company2. Completed a research project on sustainability3. Completed research in several related fields

Recommendations for Program Expansion:1. Go into the field to look at gas meters and facilities2. Meet with other departments of Socalgas3. Have more control over research scope

Erin TullyIntern background: Looking to become environmental lawyer, majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and Environmental Analysis. Have worked with the City of

Cams analyzing wetland data, as well as with an environmental non-profit in Beijing, China coordinating with partner companies and organizing events.

Acknowledgements:Southern California Gas Company, Environmental Department. Supervisor: Taylor Sais. Energize Colleges Contact: Kanami Otani.

● The Effect of Sustainability on Large Corporations16-20 pages20 references (at least 15 journal articles)Addresses:

Best Management practicesGreen supply chainLife cycle analysisEnvironmental impact analysisCost savings for implementation

● Page Reports○ Smaller 3-5 page reports on related fields○ Natural Gas○ CSR○ GRI○ Renewable Resources

● Run Pivot Tables○ Plot energy and water data in exel○ For several months of data from Socalgas

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Jahnavi KochaEnergy Generation & Storage Intern

Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator (LACI)

Project : Stakeholder matrixProject qualitative and quantitative results and outcomes, photos and graphics.• High school and CMC students made aware of careers in science and energy• Created stakeholder matrix with condensed information• Created events matrix• Gave suggestions to LACI for potential partners and event scrope• Presentation to Board members• Connection to 5C and pomona network

Overview of lessons learned…

Successful Strategies:1. Asking for help (creating the template)2. Good questions (know where to research information)3. Teamwork/ communication (when many people work remotely)

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Try going to campus more- there is so much going on always!2. Try keeping one day for all work to try and be more efficient3. Meet team in person for a human connection

Jahnavi KochaIntern background: Science Management major with an environmental sequence at CMC, interested in environmental consulting, environmental law and environmental

business. Previous experience building solar panels, clean campaigns and Biomimicry and pal oil research.

Acknowledgements:Amanda Sabicer, Emily Bjorklund Drake, Linda Driscoll, Ben Stapleton, LACI, Kanami Otani

Project : Stakeholder MatrixProject overview, photos and graphics.• Project of LACI called the Regional Energy Innovation Cluster in partnership with the CA

Energy Commission• Goal is to find common resources available,share amidst the cleantech community, and

find funding to create resources where needed• LACI’s role is as a liaison and connector or mediator in the industry between VCs,

government, entrepreneurs, colleges, etc• Created a research document with companies, non profits, corporations, research

groups, incubators, facilities, funding sources, policy organizations, government groups, and all those involved in the CleanTech industry

• Learned about the different ways that one can contribute to the larger industry, created my own network, and found contagious passion in a lot of leaders of the industry!

Project 2: Project 2 NameProject 2 overview, photos and graphics.

InternPhoto



Jenny FangEnergy and Education Intern

Claremont McKenna College

CMC Sustainability GuideThis guide is meant to be a comprehensive resource for how a students, in particular, can live a more

sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle on campus. It touches on topics such as food, printing, laundry, bathroom and more.

• Design was recently completed. Resource should be published and on CMC sustainability website by the end of the semester.

CMC Drying Rack Checkout Program EstablishedCMC students have the opportunity to check out a drying rack to use for the semester to save energy and

money from using the drying machines to dry clothes. • 20 racks are available and 20 racks are checked out. • By the end of the semester, I will have numbers on energy and money savings the drying rack checkout

program has resulted in after students return their racks and data.


Successful Strategies:1. Just do something.2. Have a support group. 3. Meet people where they are.

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Getting funding to purchase more drying racks to expand program.2. Including an eco-dorm checklist in the sustainability guide.3. Establish Green Office program

Jenny FangSophomore at CMC

Economics and Engineering Major

Acknowledgements:Kanami Otani for coordinating this program and weekly check ins and support, Kristin Miller for her endless support and insights on all projects I worked on.

Project 1: Sustainable Procurement To engage the CMC community in being more conscientious about product purchasing. To encourage purchasing more sustainably and ethically made products from socially responsible companies.• Kravis Leadership Institute – purchased reusable snack containers from Preserve to

reduce plastic snack bag waste• Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum – purchased compostable hot drink cups from World

Centric to reduce Styrofoam cup waste• Deans of Students Office – working on purchasing certified organic and Fair Trade t-shirts

from HaeNow to support more ethical fashion, working on purchasing stainless steel water bottles from Klean Kanteen to promote reusing water bottles (both for first year orientation)

• Various student organizations and individuals – purchased more organic produce for an event, find reusable containers on campus for soap making, purchase safe non-toxic bodycare products, and more; all to ensure a more thriving, safe and healthy community

Project 2: CMC GreenWare Checkout Program In Progress of being establishedMembers of the CMC community will have the option to save money and checkout reusable

diningware from this program. Checkout is free and convenient. Checkout what you need, bring back and we will wash everything. The goal of this program is to help the CMC community save money from purchasing dining ware and reduce the amount of single-use disposable diningware being thrown into the landfill.

• Currently in process of ordering all materials.• Figuring out low cost feasible way to wash the diningware.

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Achievements / Results / OutcomesAir Quality Workshops

Kenlyn Mirbach Energy Interpretation & Community Outreach Intern

Chino Basin Water Conservation District

Project 1 Name

● Over 100 students trained in Air Quality !!! 100% Success rate

Project 2 Name

● Over 200 students introduced to the importance of trees for storing carbon and Air Quality

I learned about good ways to motivate students to learn about the environment! Successful Strategies:

1. Fun activities2. Keeping people accountable3. Relating environmental issues to the kids real life experiences

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Make this a long term lesson 2. Keep students more engaged with a simple powerpoint

Kenlyn MirbachFreshman at Claremont Mckenna College, International Relations and Psychology Major, hoping to create a company that is socially and environmentally aware!

Acknowledgements:Becky Rittenberg from the Chino Basin Water Conservation District

Project 1: Rancho Cucamonga High School • Worked with High School students to Teach them how to teach Air Quality workshops to Elementary school students

Project 2: Earth Day Celebration Air Quality and Carbon Tree Activity• Assisted in Earth Day at CBWCD by helping with measuring how much carbon a tree can hold, and assisting with the Air Quality workshop again.



Olivia Schneble Manufacturing & Training Intern Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP)

Project 1: Volunteer manufacturing● Average of nine volunteers consistently attend meetings● One prototype panel constructed and tested

Project 2: Factory Layout● Equipment list completed● Potential suppliers identified for all large pieces● First draft of floor plan complete

Successful Strategies:1. Teach a new skill to engage volunteers2. Allow volunteers to use their strengths3. Frequently revisit goals and timelines

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. Recruit beyond Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) at Harvey Mudd2. Engage with ESW National Organization3. Strengthen procedures for continuity (e.g. spring semester training program)

Olivia SchnebleOlivia is a senior at Harvey Mudd College majoring in engineering. She plans to pursue a PhD in materials science to research materials for photovoltaics.

. Acknowledgements:Kanami Otani, Devon Hartman, Kent Kernahan, Mike Caldwell

Project 1: CLGP Manufacturing- Volunteer TrainingHMC student volunteers have been trained to solder cells into panel layouts, one prototype panel has been constructed. Volunteers will also assist with writing a process router for soldering procedure.

Project 2: Factory LayoutA floor plan has been drafted for the Claremont-based factory that CLGP plans to establish. Further revisions will be made based on process lessons learned and available spaces.

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Desired OutomesProject Description

Samuel BeckerSolar Initiative Intern

Central Facilities Services - Claremont University Consortium

Comprehensive Educational Report:● Identifying the reasons for the lack of solar throughout the Consortium● Increasing literacy about pathways to installing Consortium-wide solar● Creating excitement about implementing solar


Successful Strategies:1. Patience2. Communication3. Accountability

Sam Becker: Claremont McKenna College 2019, Philosophy and Public Affairs

Special thanks to Kanami Otani, Kristin Miller, and Louis Spanias

Comprehensive Educational Report:● Investigating the feasibility and the pros and cons of establishing expansive

solar arrays at the Claremont Colleges● Looking into the importance of TOU meters and the amount of regular

meters vs. TOU meters at each college● Obtaining data from Facility and Sustainability staff about immediate and

potential areas for solar● Coordinating a solar audit at KGI and the CUC HQ

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William Masters

Outreach for Water Day Symposium

• Designed a flyer for the symposium that was used to market the event

• Confirmed one of the panelist for the Symposium, Dr. Stephanie Pincetl

• Identified key themes of the Symposium for distribution to attendees and local stakeholders

Local Spotlight Project

• Created an interactive GIS map to highlight 7 local projects in the Inland Empire that exemplify water conservation strategies

Takeaways 1. Exposure to professionals in my fields of interest: civil engineering,

architecture and urban planning 2. Practiced my communication skills through interactions with our contacts

at the local projects as well by talking to potential vendors on the phone

Recommendations for Improvement / Program Expansion:1. More hands on experience in a planning and design project

William Masters:Economics Major at Claremont McKenna College Class of 2017

Civil Engineering Major at Columbia University Class of 2019 Acknowledgement:

USGBC-IE, Eera BabtiwaleCBWCD, Becky Rittenburg

Project 1: Water Day Symposium

• Contacted vendors and panelists for the Water Day Symposium

• Created/edited the flyer for the event

• Visited local projects in the Inland Empire that embody net zero water

strategies

• Contacted and interviewed designers and engineers in La Verne, Rancho

Cucamonga, and Diamond Bar

• Presented the findings of the interviews at the Symposium on a GIS map

Net Zero Water Research Intern USGBC- Inland Empire

community home energy retrofit project (cherp) · community home energy retrofit project (cherp)...

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