Sky Harvest Rainwater Capture System Project

Our final project deliverable, the project management (phase II) report is finally being submitted tonight! Our team has been working very hard for the past two weeks, staying at school and working on the project until late. With the semester wrapping up, just about every other course has a project due either this week or the next, so it has been pretty hectic for all of us.

For the past week as well as this week, each member of the team was assigned a particular role. Callum drew all the SketchUp models and compiled the report together. Heather completed the work schedule, while Dan, Kevin, and Joanne took on the cost estimate for crews and materials, as well as the work plans. These responsibilities were assigned according to what we were good at, or what we preferred to do, so everyone was happy with their parts. It also increased the level of efficiency of the project.

The final deliverable that we are submitting to Sky Harvest is a construction management report that includes the following:

• detailed work schedule using Microsoft Project
• SketchUp models of the site and exactly where the tanks and pipes are installed for the rainwater capture system
• work plans for tank and pipes installation procedures
• cost estimate for crews and material based on RS Means, which included overhead profit and time/location adjustment

Our team also attended a tour of the actual site a couple weeks back, where we were able to obtain drawings and floor plans of the site. This allowed us to factor in site restrictions and pick wisely what specific work plans and methods to use. There has been a lot of discussion within our group lately to get everyone’s input on what exact steps to carry out for the construction phase. It was a lot to juggle between topics such as costs, quality, safety, and risks.

As a team, we are quite satisfied with the final outcome of our project, and we really hope that our report will be useful for our client. We are definitely not professionals just yet, but are capable of coming up with estimates and a conceptual design proposal for project such as this one. Assumptions were made here and there, but our conclusion is solid and well thought-out. We are all very proud of our team and our final project.

The skills that we learned from this CBEL project will be very valuable in the future. Communication, planning, scheduling, cost estimating, and time management are a few key aspects of project management that have been reflected in the overall process of putting the project together. These skills will be beneficial for us in the future for sure.

We are finally done, team! Thank you to our supervisors as well as our client for giving us this opportunity to take on a challenging but fun project this semester. It has been a crazy ride, but very rewarding. Best of luck to everyone on their finals! Cheers!

The conceptual design phase of our project was officially completed last week, after meeting with our client. We were provided with comments and feedback on the feasibility report as well as suggestions on revising the report; however, based on the time constraint that we have, we have concluded that we will move onto Phase II based on the best of the four design options that were drafted in the report. Additionally, the site for which the Phase II report will be based on is also finalized. Phase II will be comprised on the project management components, and we have lots to do!

It is the last week of February and the final report is due in approximately a month’s time. Since our team has chosen to phase our project into two phases (the Design Phase makes up 25% of the project while the Project Management Phase makes up of 75%), we needed to finalize the Design Phase soon so that we can focus on the Project Management Phase. During the meeting three days ago on Tuesday, February 26, we have set for ourselves several target deadlines for this week and next week:

• finish drafting individual assigned parts of the feasibility report by Friday, March 1

• complete the final copy of the feasibility report over the weekend (editting and formatting)

• a good copy of the completed feasibility report will be sent to the client for review on Monday, March 4

• meet with the client early next week either on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (March 5, 6, or 7 respectively) to get his decision on which one of the four designs he wants our project to focus on

• start the Project Management Phase as soon as we know the client’s decision

Our team has conducted a lot of research on the topics covered in the feasibility report over the Reading Break, and during the meeting on Tuesday, all of us actually had more information and research than what our project covers. This raised several questions such as: “Should we include this..? Or does the client want this..?” But after reviewing our well-defined scope together, we were able to easily identify what we should cover and what we should leave out in the feasibility report. In addition, we concluded that all assumptions will be stated clearly in the report, so that the client would be able to understand our team’s thought process of the entire report was.

Lastly, we have been in contact with the client in the last day or two, and he is eager for our feasibility report. We are thrilled to hear this from the client – our team is also very eager to complete the report on time and learn more about the client’s decision. We are working superbly as a team and are expecting to meet all target deadlines next week.

Stay tuned for another blog post next week after our meeting with the client! Cheers!

Joanne

After our initial meeting with Aaron Quesnel of Sky Harvest and Ara (CBEL Learning Officer), our group obtained a much better understanding of Sky Harvest’s mission (please refer to the last blog post) and how we, as a group, can help in this mission.  We had certain anticipations of how the project was going to progress, prior to the meeting.  For example, a couple of the group members were excited to create an actual, physical, detailed design of the rainwater capture system.  However, our meeting with Aaron and Ara indicated that this might not occur, given that our main goal should be focusing on the project management side of things (i.e. budgeting, scheduling, conceptual designs, time constraints, etc.).

Since then, our group started creating a terms of reference document.  This document essentially captures Aaron’s requirements and expectations from us.  It also allows us to summarize  how our group will be organized (in terms of individual roles), our scope, what we need from Sky Harvest to complete the work, and general terms and conditions.  The motivation behind the details of the document was based on the acquired information during our initial meeting.  As outlined from the course project guidelines, the document will be submitted by Wednesday, February 6, 2013.

General outline of the Terms of Reference document.

• Background: Outlines Sky Harvest’s overall goal of developing sustainable, efficient, and innovative rooftop greenhouse facilities for food production.  This also outlines where our group comes into the overall picture – the rainwater capture and storage aspect of the project.
• Purpose: Outlines what the feasibility report is for, as well as what it will contain.
• Organization: Defines individual roles within the project.
• Scope: Explicitly describes what our group will do for this project.
• Requirements:  Lists resources our group requires in order to carry out the work.
• Deliverables: The main deliverable will be a feasibility study regarding certain aspects of the project.  This will cover Aaron’s specific requirements, as well as accomplish course objectives defined in the project guidelines.

Moving forward, our group is in the midst of conducting research on rooftop greenhouses.  It is our plan to start work on the specific details of our project.

On January 22, 2013 our team met with Aaron Quesnel, the founder and owner of Sky Harvest – a new local company specializing in developing sustainable rooftop greenhouse facilities on commercial buildings for food production. Ara, the CBEL Project Coordinator, also participated in our meeting, which provided a lot of support in terms of defining our scope of work, and setting a balance between the client’s requirements and the project criteria.

Sky Harvest – What is their mission?

Sky Harvest aims to design greenhouses that grow common produce found in the local markets. Such produce include tomatoes and lettuce, as well as spices. Organic techniques will be used and the produce will be sold fresh as it is convenient to harvest and would even allow customers to pick the produce themselves. These greenhouses will be located on commercial building rooftops, and will incorporate modern and sustainable technologies and strategies. Aside from growing crops and developing a local business, Sky Harvest also wants to educate the community about the importance of sustainability, and ways to achieve a greener lifestyle in cities such as Vancouver, which is investing more and more money into green technologies every year. For example, the greenhouses will utilize efficient heating and light systems, and the residents would be able to learn more about these new, greener innovations. Community outreach is one of Sky Harvest’s priorities; in order to create a sustainable environment, the community must be engaged and socially aware about the idea of renewable technologies and sustainable food production systems.

Project Update

From the meeting with Aaron, we have learnt his expectations regarding this CBEL project. Specifically, these expectations include:

• A general design schematic of the rainwater capture system that is applicable to most rooftops greenhouse
• An estimated budget and cost per square foot of the system
• A research on the building attributes, loading types, calculations, logistics, etc. to sustain the system
• Precedent studies about similar projects such as Lufa Farm in Montreal (Information will be provided by Aaron)
• A feasibility study document, by the end of the project  which includes 4 major components: conceptual design, construction work plan, cost estimate, and construction schedule

Having learnt these expectations, our team immediately broke down the work for the project and have assigned the following work to the respective individuals:

1. Conceptual Design – Callum, Dan, Joanne
2. Construction Work Plan – Joanne, Heather
3. Cost Estimate – Dan, Kevin
4. Construction Schedule – Callum, Kevin

From this point on, each member is expected to do some individual research on his/her own respective topic.  This includes precedent studies on current “green” technologies.  Additionally, a regular group meeting will be held once a week to gather  our thoughts, to make sure we are all on the same page and the project progresses smoothly.  For now, the next step is to cooperate with Sky Harvest in creating a “Terms of Reference” document which will be submitted to Dr. Froese and Dr. Staub-French in the first week of February.