Design Bridge, a student group within the University’s Department of Architecture, met with representatives from SeQuential Biofuels on Tuesday to present the conceptual model for a planned eco-friendly bus shelter.
The proposed structure will feature a “living” roof and wall, and utilize “rammed earth,” a substance somewhat like the indigenous-American natural building material adobe.
The student designers will also participate in the construction of the shelter, which will happen either spring or summer at SeQuential’s biofuel station on McVay Highway in Eugene.
Design Bridge coordinator Erik Churchill says the process has been exciting because SeQuential, by allowing Design Bridge to add to its station, has given students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with environmentally-friendly or ‘green’ technology.
“We’re just adding another layer to their site,” he said. “We’re trying to integrate our design into the statement they’ve already made as a company.”
Churchill, a self-professed green technology enthusiast, said SeQuential is leading the way toward a greener future.
The McVay station, Churchill said, has everything from an organic coffee shop to a “bio-swale,” which is like a marsh that absorbs contaminated rainwater instead of allowing it to flow into the river through the drainage system.
He was especially excited by the opportunity to build a living roof and wall. Utilizing a membrane that holds a thin layer of soil, a living roof allows grass and other plants to grow on it, which Churchill said “lowers the ‘urban heat-island’ effect.”
The living wall uses similar methods, and, in the case of the bus shelter, would convert carbon dioxide released by the passing buses into oxygen, said Churchill.
Ian Hill, SeQuential’s managing partner and co-founder, was equally enthusiastic about what his company has done at the McVay station, and was particularly enticed by the use of rammed earth in the students’ design.
The idea of rammed earth, which Churchill described as “building up layers of super-compacted soil using formwork similar to concrete formwork,” will use materials already present at the site.
Hill said his experience working with the students has been great so far, and he appreciates their “innovative energy” and “creative problem solving,” qualities that are not always present in working professionals.
“As an owner, if I present a new challenge,” Hill said, one of the major differences is that students have “a willingness to be excited about that and not be grouchy about it.”
Sam Rusek, a graduate student participating in the project for school credit as an independent elective class, said she has never had an experience like it.
“We get to build something and that’s really neat,” she said. “That’s why we’ve been going to all these classes.”
In addition to the construction side of the project, Rusek said the opportunity to meet with engineers and Lane Transit District representatives will be invaluable.
“It just makes everything a little more real,” she said.