GREEN ROOF

Here are just a few reasons of why I propose OCAD to implement the Green Roof project for out Sharp Center of Design at 100 McCaul Street:

1. GRs (Green Roofs) reduce increase in air temperature:
- they re-radiate most of sun's energy
- they have heat insulation properties
- therefore, less energy is required to cool off the building
- therefore, less hot air needed from mechanical cooling systems
2. GRs improve air quality:
- they reduce out-site air temperature
- less dust in the air
- they serve as natural air filters (photosynthesis)
- they reduce internal temperature fluctuations
- and roof's life span extends
3. GRs provide for the reduction of storm water runoff:
- plus, they reduce incidents such as surcharge, overflow, creek erosion etc.

Ok..... NOT ENOUGH reasons?
4. GR's improve building's aesthetics (wouldn't those pictures in T-Dot magazines look much more attractive?)
5. GRs create more jobs
6. We can contact with nature right on our roof! Why not even have proposed Yoga sessions on our new green roof?
7. Additional green space where we can grow veggies for our new Health Food Booth

Now, MONEY of course matter in the first place, as always... so what are our market prices for GRs?:
- Inaccessible extensive green roof with 150 mm of thick growing medium costs more than $12 per sq. foot than a standard flat roof, which excludes structural upgrades and maintenance
- Accessible intensive green roof costs THREE times more

Now, my question is Would such costs likely reduce as the use of green roofs increases?

Here are some great examples of already existing GR projects around the world...
Above is Library of Delft Technical University in the Netherlands

Above is one of the Chicago's GR projects

Above is my favourite so far is the Fukuoka building in Fukuoka city in Japan, which accommodates offices and retail spaces, 2,000 seat theatre and a museum.

Thank You,

Yana Haiduk

Comfort Zone

-TRAVELING FAR AND LONG is a major problem with students today. As a student who lives far away from school I am familiar with the troubles regarding long distance travel and I have come up with a solution to ease the pain.
Since there is never enough time in the day to be able to study, and to live a life, I introduce to you "THE COMFORT ZONE".

-We can create this COMFORT ZONE on the 5th(at the back where the sofas and the vending machine are) and 6th floor (main study hall) of the main building and the 4th floor (student lounge) of the other building, which is in 113 McCaul Street.

- Instead of a sofa I decided to go with the lounge chairs, since its only purpose is to either sit and relax or take a nap. Sofas can be used for studying and other purposes which causes the area to be over crowded since people wouldn’t want to leave.

I chose this chair (lounge chair) because the "wave" in this chair mirrors the curves of the body making it extremely comfortable and ergonomic. Also it’s interesting and can be used as a sitting area to calm and give you a piece of mind.
The design of this chair is modern, simple and chic and it does not occupy much space.

-I chose the light blue color for the walls to create a peaceful environment.

OCAD’ RELAXATION RENOVATION

Judging by the comments of the class, it seems that there is a great need at the Ontario College of Art and Design for some shape or form of relaxation renovation; in other words, outlets within the school in which students can retreat to for social or relaxative purposes, escaping the harsh confinements of the classroom. From my previous travels and experiences at other schools, I have observed that the majority Universities in Ontario both have a main coffee shop, and a main pub; both of which act as landmarks for social interaction or relaxation, and just overall meeting landmarks in general. Some places even have several of these, and feel they are absolutely essential to the University as a whole, and also to one’s own University experience. They fulfill the needs of all different types of students, from the caffeine-crazed mochaholics, to the professional party animals looking for mad fresh ill times, and then of course, everyone in between. Currently, we have one very small sorry excuse for a coffee shop/snack bar located on the 2nd floor that most students probably don’t even know exists, and an on campus pub, which ceases to exist entirely. Therefore, my ONE BIG IDEA for the Ontario College of Art and Design is to bring this institution up to par with the other Universities in Ontario by integrating these essential landmarks into its landscape, so that students no longer feel so incredibly obligated academically, and can escape to a place in which one wants to be, and wants to be seen.

HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCT 1



Location: Existing Coffee Shop location on the 2nd Floor. This location is absolutely perfect, because of its proximity to the Great Hall Student Gallery, but also forces you to physically leave the stressful studio settings of the 5th & 6th floors, alleviating your mental ailments already.

Furniture: A very large concern voiced from students, as there are only so many hours you can force yourself to sit in a plastic chair. Therefore, we need some oversized plush loungers with which students can melt into. They’ve already got enough to worry about academically; they don’t need to be worrying about back pain and posture.

Interior Design: Although exterior architecture does not play much of a role in this, interior architecture does immensely! The interior architecture within OCAD is without a doubt, one of the biggest reasons why students feel so obligated and confined, because there is no variety. In order to make this coffee shop a landmark in which to escape to, its interior needs to be drastically different than its surroundings. Modern, trendy architecture and carpeted floors need to be incorporated, but need to be relatively neutral so one does not feel overwhelmed. This is after all an escape, not another dead end. Soft lighting, but mostly natural sourced light coming in from large open windows needs to be doing most of the work. This will also greatly open up a space, rather than confine it.

HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCT 2



Location: Courtyard to the South of the building between Aboveground Art Supplies

The location is absolutely pivotal to a pub’s success. Students need to be able to actually know its there, and as I was thinking about its location, I realized there really isn’t a terrible amount of places it could actually go. I feel OCAD in general has done quite a bad job in general of designing its spaces, and a prime example of this is the courtyard between the school and the art store. It’s always sparsely populated, and I think that when they were constructing the tabletop, they probably just had a bunch of unused cement left over that the didn’t feel like hauling out, so instead designed this makeshift “meeting place”, where students were expected to gather between class. This poorly used space is in fact the perfect location for an on-campus pub, as it its perimeter is probably the perfect size for a University of this demographic, and also for visibility purposes.

Exterior Design: As with OCAD’s exterior architecture, the exterior architecture of The Domino Effect also will bring with it great controversy, as everyone will have their own say as to how this thing is supposed to look. However, I feel that if this pub is going to fly, it absolutely cannot incorporate the same motifs used within the tabletop’s design. Most pubs, and bars in general, always have some sort of unique theme, with a unique name to accompany it, making not only fun, but a place that is easily remembered as a landmark. Now I am completely open to theme choice, but if you want to go with something that is tried and true, and that will please everyone, your standard brick Irish pub theme, with hand painted signage would suffice just fine. Another very important aspect of a pub is its patio. I truly feel that during any time of day, a pub is only as good as its patio, as this marriage between the two is definitely essential to its success. If people are actually going to go to this place they need to see its patrons, the social interaction, and the good times being had.

Interior Design: Again, there are not too many ways you can go wrong with a pub’s interior architecture. It does however need to have sufficient walking space between its tables and bar. Bad bar design can truly make or break one’s stay there, and shape whether or not this is a place is which they would like to frequent with their pals in the future. Therefore, again one cannot feel confined, as this is after all a place to escape, not imprison.

Now these are just two hypothetical solutions for the Ontario College of Art and Design to take into consideration. But again, I must stress how important I feel these relaxative renovations would be for this institution. As you all know, OCAD is an accredited Ontario University, but because of its name, there is confusion amongst many as to its actual academic status. There have already been talks of incorporating the word “University” into its name, but I still feel that this will still not do justice, as its atmosphere and landscape still greatly feel like more of a workplace you go to from 9-5, Monday to Friday. As stated at the beginning, it is very obvious that there is a great need at OCAD for some shape or form of relaxation renovation. These improvements would not only bring greater mental being to students, but they will also reap the great social benefits that come with them as well, and overall, OCAD will feel like a more pleasant, exciting, and relevant place to learn!

recycling and Garbage FINAL IDEA

Our idea is student can bring their extra materials or finish projects to the exchange center and exchange to tickets(money). The tickets that they have on their accont can buy materials in the exchange center. This could control studnts waste material and collects material for recycling. That provides OCAD "green" image to the community. This can also student save money as well.


Alice Leong, Lena Yang.

One Big Idea

Our group worked on how to deal with garbages we creat in OCAD.
Our group researched about garbages for part 1 and I researched about paints and ligthings used in OCAD for part 1.
We thought that it would be good to combine two and do something about using garbage as paint.
Since paints that are used for walls in OCAD releases some amount of toxin,
why not use scrap pieces of materials that are left from making projects (garbages) to cover walls.
This will save money spent on paint, reduce toxin, add creativity on walls, and save money to take out garbage.
It would be good to start from yellow stair case since there's nothing.
and I thought that it would be good to make a project about this for fine art student.
project about creating piece to cover wall using recycles.

OCAD ONE BIG IDEA

OCAD TIME-SHARE EXHIBITION PROGRAM

CREATORS/COORDINATORS

Mike Cameron, Roberto De Laurentiis, Katie Felton

OVERVIEW

As students in the OCAD community, we feel that there is not sufficient opportunity to get your work exhibited. OCAD is an environment designed for expression and freedom of imagination and there should be more of an emphasis on sharing your work. All our students work very hard to produce works of art and design and there is a lot of unused display space around the campus. We propose a time-share program that allows students to borrow display space for an allotted period of time and create a small exhibition for themselves within the walls of the university.

HOW IT WORKS

The program would be organized and run by the student body for the student body with appointed committee members for the administration process. Students would apply by filling out a short application with a portfolio of the proposed pieces for display.
To be fair to all applicants and depending on the committee’s decisions and availability, a space would be given and possessed for a period of anywhere between two and four weeks maximum.
From that point of exchange, the student or group of artists/ designers would be responsible for the installation of their display with further approval from the program committee. Local advertisement of these independent exhibitions would be encouraged.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

*All work must be complete before submission. Include pictures and dimensions.
*All exhibits are to be organized and displayed in the most professional manner possible. The idea behind the program is to encourage confidence as a professional artist/ designer. It is also important to keep in mind that the work will be representing the OCAD community.
*Not all work displayed must be class or project based work. Students may submit and display any work they have done in and out of school that is relevant to the college mediums.
* All work will be screened for material that could be deemed offensive or not up to the program standard, this is not to say judged necessarily, but the quality of the work will be accessed. Any form of advertisement for the exhibition must be equally appropriate.

SECRETS TO SUCCESS

OCAD can be a highly competitive environment and half the battle for some students is just getting confidence in their work. The program would provide ways to leave comments and criticisms on the displays via a website which would be monitored by the program committee. Archives of the displays would be kept in the form of a student-run gallery on the site.

Let's Make Our Learning Institute More 'ACTIVE'

By saying that, I mean let's get it more involved with us students and definitely with outside world. How many if you feel that our institute isn't much of a fun place to be? What is it lacking? Well it has come to my concern that many of our students like to work in school for hours to get the most work done. I am in EV and our biggest core studio project of all was due yesterday; so more than half of the 2nd year EV students were working in school on the whole day monday. They were deperate, exhausted, frustrated, sleepy and what not. Students were running around from wood shop to working space on 5th floor and with their laptops. In this case, where you stay in school and work ALL day long, don't you feel like taking a 10/15 mind break every two hours or so and do something fun, which would refresh you and you mind and help you concentrate on work more?
So I thought may be OCAD could take an initiative to manage a gym, a yoga place and a place for small sports activities in this building. We should have atleast one transforming space to manage these activities. We are all designers here so I am sure this won't be a problem if we take the initiative. One of the classrooms or may be a gallary, a storage room could be transformed into gym permanently since the equipments could be a problem to move around. Most of other universities have gym where students become a member and can come anytime they want! So why not ours? And may be OCAD could give outsiders an oppurtinity to become a member, and get helped financially.
There's a study room on second floor at the left corner of the cafe. It's usually empty, calm and not many students visit the room, so why not tranforming it into a yoga place and also arrange some fun sports at times? Depending on the time when studetns have more study pressure, we can keep tranforming the space into two of these activities. Well we have study area on 5th and 6th floor, 4th level of Annex building and the library itself, so taking up another area won't be a big deal in my opinion. X-space could be another option to arrange them. I am sure many of us feel the need of these in our community when students from others institues talk about theirs.

And then OCAD could be highly involved with the outside world through us students. HOW? Well as you may have noticed many of the universities, York, UofT, Ryerson has different student associations who get occupied in various community works, volunteering etc wether its in Canada or other part of world. There are also cultural associations who organize different cultural shows and keep it open for anyone and everyone to come and in a way they get financial help to give out to various charity world wide. OCAD could be a part of these activities. I have noticed that almost all of my friends don't have any clue that a school by name even exists. THIS is an oppurtunity to let the outsiders know that we exist. We students have to take the permission and take the initiative to create such associations to help out charities, help out the countries who need our help by organizing shows, concerts, cultural exhibitions etc.
There was a terrible and one of the strongest cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh last month and more than 3,000 people died, and numeruos people became homeless!!! In this case, in my concern, OCAD took no step to gather funds to help Bangladesh, may be because they don't have the right circumstances whereas Ryerson arranged a concert, York and UofT asked everyone around them for help. I had to be a part of them to become a help for my own conntry and I felt really bad about my own OCAD not having such associations. So I realized that we as a student have to take these steps and this might as well help us to be known to others who we are unknown to. It's a benifit for all.

So, let ourselves have fun in our own community and let's help OCAD getting even more active in every other way as much as can; apart from art and designing world.

Thank You
Farah

The Five Minute Pitch

This week you will be presenting your ONE BIG IDEA in class. You don't have anything to hand in. Make sure that you have created a blog post that sums up and shows a visual of your ONE BIG IDEA at OCAD. From this blog posting you will be making a 5 minute pitch of your idea to the class. Try to convince us of the merits of your idea, and why we should adopt it here at the University.

The 5 Minute Pitch:
Practice and fine tuning the art of the five minute pitch is fundamental to your professional development as a designer. Good ideas can get lost if you don’t know how to present them. Even mediocre ideas (not that I’m advocating mediocrity) can be improved and worked upon in a presentation.

The idea is to get your audience’s attention – and hold it, for 5 minutes. Then you ask for what you came for. Make sure you are clear about this -- you should know what you want to get from the pitching session, and what you are going to ask for.

The Theory of the 5 Minute Pitch:
The beauty of learning to pitch your concept within the 5 minute time frame works on the basis that anyone can concentrate for 5 minutes - so you’re guaranteed to keep your audience’s attention to the end. They will appreciate the fact that you are so quickly able to come to the point, saving their valuable time. There will be times when you will require much longer to show work - when it is complex, or involves a time-based presentation, but more often than not, what you need to say can be said in 5 minutes.

The Method:
When you present, or ‘pitch’ your design ideas and projects, you must try to grab your audience’s attention as soon as you start, and hold it. Plan what you are going to say, and if necessary,take notes in point form so that you don’t miss any of the points you wish to make, or disturb the flow of your presentation.

Practice your presentation - and time it! Make sure that it really is a five minute pitch.

Here are the points you need to hit:

1 Introduce yourself and your team; briefly explain your roles and responsibilities in the team – what you did.

2 Introduce your project, by name (if your project hasn’t got a name, give it one).

3 Tell us about your vision – WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO DO THIS?

4 Briefly describe your concept, back it up with reference to your research.

5 Briefly explain your project and demo or describe a couple of the high points...

6 Identify your target audience.

7 Describe your method of marketing and distribution to your audience ie: how will they find out about it, and how will they get to use it?

You don’t need to do this for class, but the next steps in the real world are....

8 If your project is a product or service, identify your price point.

9 Briefly present your budget. Then ask for the money/support/grant/assistance you need!

10 Always -- Thank the people who have so graciously listened to your pitch.

One Big Idea

Stop drinking bottled water.

My idea is to stop bottled water from being sold at OCAD. Here are 5 reasons:

1. Bottled water is not good value.
2. Bottled water is no "healthier" than tap water.
3. Bottled water means more waste.
4. Bottled water means less attention to public water systems.
5. Bottled water is a corporate commodity.

Of course there are plenty more reasons, and each deserves an in depth explanation. To summarize: Most universities have exclusivity contracts with big soft drink companies - but there are ways breach these contracts. Perhaps more drinking taps and fountains would have to be installed and an awareness campaign held prior to the ban. Guerrilla tactics are always interesting - stickers, projection media, altering labels on vending machines, etc. Students would receive a water bottle as part of their frosh package with info about the school's policy. In the mean time, get a reusable water bottle (stainless steel is the best) and fill it up instead of supporting the corporatization of a precious resource. Need some more info? Click the title for a link to Inside the Bottle campaign by the Polaris Institute.

Don't drink from the 'mainstream'. Drink from the tap. Simple and sustainable.

Nicole T.

ONE BIG IDEA

IDEA FOR OCAD:
Cigarette butts receptacles
Vinson and Jay

It has come to our attention that OCAD has a fare number of smokers and as such a problem has arisen. The school has not adequately provided the smoking portion of the student population with proper waste receptacles. With no place to dispose of their butts, they are simply thrown to the ground. This causes litter and harm to the environment, as well as damaging the appearance of the school. The shear number of these butts that has accumulated thus far has already covered much of the ground we walk on.

Our group is proposing that the school place new waste receptacles specifically for cigarettes. Placed strategically at certain locations we believe that this could reduce the amount of butts that become litter. There are certain areas of the school where more people will gather to smoke. An example of some locations would be outside 100 MacCaul or across the street outside the annex building.

The things that we are planning to incorporate thus far are surveys, research in to environmental affects of cigarette waste and the development of a new prototype cigarette receptacle.

ONE BIG IDEA

Judging by the comments of the class, it seems that there is a great need at the Ontario College of Art and Design for some shape or form of social outlets; that is hotspots in the school in which students can retreat to for social or relaxative purposes, escaping the harsh confinements of the classroom. From my previous travels and experiences at other schools, I have observed that the majority Universities in Ontario both have a main coffee shop, and a main pub; both of which act as landmarks for social interaction or relaxation. Some places even have several of these, and I feel that these are absolutely essential to one’s University experience. They fulfill the needs of all different types of students, from the caffeine-crazed mochaholics, to the professional party animals looking for good times to be had, and then of course, everyone in between. Therefore, I plan on constructing some sort of hypothetical solution to this huge problem here at OCAD, by finding locations for these places, and overseeing all aspects of their design according to research conducted from similar establishments, and also from my own hands-on experiences. More info soon to come!

IDEA

I think it would be great if there is a place for listening to a good music and get relaxation in the school. Each student needs to be relaxed and get rid of his or her stress. So, listening to music and dancing for a short time might help us to back to our work, fresh and healthy, revitalized.

Music has the potential of stimulating or relaxing people, it can reduce pain, help us to organize our skills and thoughts, release our emotions, entertain us or just pass the time. It can reduce stress, balance our brain waves, deepen our breathing, lower our heart beat or organize our emotions. Do you know of any prescription that can do all of that – I don’t. But it can be addictive.You might get to the point where just listening to a particular type of music makes you feel at peace or happy. We know now that even the unborn child responds to music, so we play music while we are pregnant to assure a peaceful and healthy environment and existence in the womb. Healthy people desire a harmonic environment and the ill require one. Music helps the body return to a state of balance and harmony when everything else around us is out of order.

ONE BIG IDEA

Making OCAD’s roof GREEN

The age of sustainable design has arrived. Professors at OCAD teach sustainability and the importance of such practice. Although the research from PART I of this assignment has shown that the facility itself and primarily its design does not 100% support the GREEN design.

The construction of the Sharp Center of Design allowed for a vast area of the rooftop of the structure. Although the space is underused and is not utilized to its fullest potential. The Green Roofing practices have become increasingly popular in Europe and some places in North America. Currently, there are even the whole cities where the Green roof practice is the primary issue when designing and constructing a new building.

So my main question and proposal of how can we make OCAD a greener and better place would be to propose the idea of Green Roof that will only benefit the OCAD’s community.

ONE BIG IDEA

My idea has to do with the solar energy. Solar energy is energy from the sun, in the lighting sufficient area, the solar energy supply continuously; the production process will not have any environmental pollution, it will not use any other earth resource or causes the global warming. Also the solar energy is a good energy similar to the water power or the wind power. If we have it on top of OCAD's roof, it will support the energy we use. However, it will be a big problem to afford so we have to do some fun raising or we can have everyone to recycle their useless stuff and exchange for money to help OCAD raise the money.

One Big Idea

Hey guys

So basically my group Mike , Katie, and I ( Rob) have had many ideas on what we can focus on and improve for OCAD and its community, for example everywhere from having prizes in the yellow stair case so that we can encourage people to use it more and to also have a little bit of excercises, to ideas where the front doors can be replaced by revolving ones so that they can provide a sense of energy creation by having them turn constantly because of the in and out 's that students do. But our main idea we are focusing on now is using the display case around the school to be used to displaystudents work that has been rented out by them for a small fee so that they can have others enjoy it. Thats all for now , we'll have more in depth detail once the presentation comes rolling around.

thanks guys

Later
Rob De Laurentiis 2264760

Readings and issues for this week's Quiz

These are some of the readings and issues you should review for this week's open-book quiz, which will consist of some multiple choice, short answer questions, and one longer opinion piece:

Vultures Vanishing & Farewell to the Yangtze dolphin
Research Methodologies
Making the Green Grade
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream

Bring your notes and handouts. The quiz will be based on the readings we have discussed in class, the guest lecture by Toby Heaps, and the film 'The End of Suburbia' that we viewed in class.

The quiz is worth 10%

ONE BIG IDEA

Brainstorming/researching for this project I've come up with a few ideas OCAD could use to improve their environmental standards.

For one, motion sensored lighting in the Sharp Center. I have lived in the highrise in Grange Park for two years and noticed that often times the lights are left on all night in forgotten rooms. I think a lighting systme that is highly sensitive to motion would be a good energy saver for this problem.

Secondly, in the summer when the air condioners are blasting, we could think about installing a deep water cooling system which draws cold water from the depths of lake Ontario into a piping system that naturally cools the building.....it would be like dunking the building in cold water the same way your dog might cool off by jumping in a lake.....since the building is already standing, I don't know much about retrofitting a system like this but these are ideas are preliminary-ish.

Thirdly, solar panelled roofing....it can't hurt to make use of the natural energy that comes our way everyday and I think OCAD should definately get on that.

That's all for now....see you in class tonight.
I'm working with Mike and Rob and they have some awesome ideas too but I'll let them speak for themselves:)
Cheers,

Katie Felton

Exchange what we need !!! (Assignment 3 part 2)

Hi, everyone.

We have a lot of "recycle projects (use recycle material to make a sculptrue, jewelry, model and so on)" in OCAD every year. My idea is find a room in OCAD to storage the recycle material we collected (been clean & packed). OCAD student can exchange anything they needed for their project. For example: 10 plastic bottle exchange 2 magazine/10 cans ... We can put anything that is recycle in order and students take turns to be the "storage room" assistant and organize this event.

I always find not enough material for my "recycle projects", such as i wan to use cans as my materials and i only drink ice-tea, that limits my materil color (if i want somthing red as coke cans). OCAD is an ART SCHOOL, most of the materials that we use are paper, we can also collected our used paper to make recycle paper and print our school advertisment on. This would helps people view us as "green school/ green artist" .



Starts form everyone of us !!! That's my idea for "OCAD GREEN" !!!

Thank you .

Aquafina Tap Water

To follow up with my presentation on bottled water, here is a link to an article outlining PepsiCo Inc. changing the label of Aquafina to state "Public Water Source". Click title.

Yes, tap water.

More on this later...

appliance wattage for green project

http://www.flatheadelectric.com/energy/appliancewattage.htm

so thats the link for the appliances everyone, sorry bout the lateness :P see you all in class tomorrow! the Raptors lost.. terribly..