Background

The Campus RainWorks Challenge is a competition hosted annually by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where universities across the country compete to build green infrastructure on, or nearby, their campus.

In the past, our Vandy EPA RainWorks project team designed a green roof for the One Magnolia Center! Green roofs reduce stormwater runoff and therefore pollution- this one was designed specifically to be interactive for the differently-abled students at the preschool in the building.

Our current EPA RainWorks project focuses on implementing a network of sensors (NoS) across campus to monitor stormwater quantity and quality in various locations. One sub-team designs and codes the sensors, while the other uses CAD to design water-tight containers and place the sensors strategically. After collecting data, the team aims to identify what types of stormwater infrastructure would best improve our campus and implement those designs.

Goals

• Deploy first set of sensors on campus
• Work with Vanderbilt facilities for review and implementation of our design
• Complete a project narrative and advertisements to submit for the EPA competition in December 2022
• Continue to manage data and identify appropriate stormwater infrastructure

Accomplishments

• First design iteration of sensors and box
• Identification of potential sensor sites
• Previous submittal to the EPA Competition
• Construction of planting tables for previous green roof project