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Team of YSU students accepts Green Energy Challenge
The Vindicator
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YSU engineering student Jarrett Scacchetti checks a light switch in Cafaro House. He is part of a group participating in the National Electrical Contractors Association Green Energy Challenge.
The Vindicator
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The YSU team selected Cafaro House, which was built in 1994, for the Green Energy Challenge.
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
A team of Youngstown State University engineering students walked the corridors of Cafaro House, evaluating the dormitory’s lighting and general energy efficiency.
The team of senior Justin Hosseininejad and junior Michael Sammartino, both of Austintown; juniors Jason Nutt of Cortland and Jarrett Scacchetti of Canfield; sophomore David Wright of Youngstown; and freshman Ethan Parks of Greenford is participating in the National Electrical Contractors Association Green Energy Challenge.
The national competition challenges teams to identify residence halls on their respective campuses that need energy-efficiency improvements.
The YSU team picked Cafaro House, which was built in 1994.
Hosseininejad said the team didn’t want to select the oldest hall on campus and liked the number of ancillary spaces within the dorm. It also was convenient.
“Both Jarrett and I live here,” he said.
They conducted an energy audit of the building power and lighting systems.
Nutt said one thing they noted in the audit was the inconsistency of lighting. Corridors, for example, go from scantily lit to bright.
Other areas, while brimming with natural light, also have bright fluorescent fixtures.
All of the team members major in either electrical engineering or electrical engineering technology, and two members work for local engineering firms and two for a local electrical contractor.
Last year marked the first year that a YSU team competed in the national contest, and that team — which included Hosseininejad and Wright — placed third in the nation, going head-to-head with much larger universities.
The team did an energy audit at M-7 Technologies in Youngstown, presenting a proposal for alternative-energy options.
“Some of the other teams hadn’t heard of YSU, so they thought we must be some specialty school,” Hosseininejad said.
He chuckled when speculating about how those other university students would perceive the difference in tuition cost.
“That just shows you the caliber of students at YSU,” Hosseininejad said.
The first part of the challenge involved the audit. For the second part, due late this month, the students will identify potential solutions.
Those solutions have to come with cost estimates and possible funding sources, Nutt and Sammartino said.
During the contest, team members must present their proposals to a panel of contractors and answer their questions.
The president of NECA, Rex Ferry, also is the president and chief executive officer of Valley Electrical Consolidated and Evets Electrical in Girard. Last year, the team practiced its pitch for him before the competition.
Hosseininejad said that was helpful.