The UW Community and Beyond

The development of the Resiliency Tunnel brings together a wide range of disciplines, and together we share the ambitious goal of creating an agricultural structure and landscape that sustainably and respectfully gives back to the community and surrounding areas. Our core team was formed by members of the credited RSO UW Solar. We utilize many pathways to increase on-campus awareness of and engagement in our project, which has permitted us to engage over 30 UW undergraduate and graduate students from the programs listed below:

• Architectural Design
• Electrical, Chemical, Industrial, and Computer Engineering
• Environmental Science, Atmospheric Science, Chemistry, and Biology
• Construction Management
• Finance/Economics, Information Systems, and Business Administration
• Urban Planning
• Landscape Architecture
• Evan’s School Environmental Policy

The Management Team

More specialized groups within our team include those focused on design (architectural, energy generation, and hydrology), feasibility, engagement, and cultural reciprocity. Our team greatly benefits from guidance and resources provided by the UW Project Delivery Group (PDG) and UW Facilities Engineering Services in the form of a Project Manager, Julie Knorr, and additional process partners.

• Those focused on architectural design and feasibility will assist with conducting rigorous land surveying that will inform the structural design. This project will likely be a Job Order Contract (JOC) project with UW PDG, a process that students will have the opportunity to shadow.
• The energy generation design team is putting together estimates for the power needs for each component: regular lights for daytime, germination lights (used frequently for 1-3 months of the year), the pump for the irrigation system, and ventilation for air circulation and temperature control. The team is also weighing options for getting additional power in the winter months when solar is less efficient.
• Students in hydrology are focusing on methods for rainwater collection and storage, agricultural water requirements variable by season, and potential uses of excess collection, such as rain gardens.