Tag Archives: sustainability

Data in the Dirt: Technology in Farming Redux

Agronomist working in a wheat field.Last year I blogged on unique uses of technology in farming. Spring is in the air here in the Pacific Northwest, so I want to revisit that thread and highlight a technology and company born right here at the University of Oregon. This company is researching the interaction between plants and fertilizers, particularly nitrogen. They have developed a technology and device that will allow a farmer or grower to monitor the nitrogen level of the soil, thus preventing excess fertilization and runoff.

SupraSensor Technologies

SupraSensor Technologies was formed in 2012 from the graduate work of Calden Carroll in partnership with his professors, Darren Johnson and Mike Haley. They discovered that the interaction between plant cells and their nitrogen level could be measured. Nitrogen fertilizer is water soluble and excess nitrogen runs off and mixes with the water table. In some areas of the country, there are large algal blooms that were fed by runoff. Algal blooms change water pH and oxygen levels, which harm fish and other organisms, and some species of algae are toxic, even deadly, to people and animals.

Field Nutrient Sensors™

Carroll and other researchers did not stop at identifying this molecular interaction. They developed a device called a Field Nutrient Sensor™ (FNS™), which measures the nitrogen level in the soil, just below root level. This information is collected wirelessly so that a farmer can determine precisely where to fertilize and when to stop. It is estimated that 30 percent of all fertilizer runs off, so this device would reduce the use of chemicals, thus saving money for the farmer and promoting a sustainable and healthier farm. Collecting the data wirelessly is much less labor intensive and yields more accurate and timely data.

Farming Meets Information Technology

SupraSensor Technologies has test sensors in the field right now and is seeking funding for commercialization. It has secured seed funding from the National Science Foundation and through state and national grants. The ability to collect this important data means that farms will now need information technology experts to not only help with the data collection and wireless networking but also with data analytics to create a coherent picture of the health of the farm, the plants, and the soil. Information technology is emerging from the computer room and finding its way to the farm, the manufacturing floor, the research site, and wherever data is being turned into solutions for a better world.

Thoughts

There are many opportunities developing for IT professionals and it is an exciting time to be involved in tackling real world problems like healthy farms and sustainable ecosystems. Do you know of other technology and research breakthroughs that you would like me to highlight? Let me know if have you cool things that need to be shared.

Author Kelly BrownAbout Kelly Brown

Kelly Brown is an IT professional and assistant professor of practice for the UO Applied Information Management Master’s Degree Program. He writes about IT and business topics that keep him up at night.

Technology in Architecture

Modern building with trees.With football season still squarely in the rearview mirror, my thoughts this week have been on architecture and technology. Fortunately, my first choice for incredible architectural breakthroughs is the new Atlanta Falcons’ football stadium.

Oculus Roof

The new Atlanta Stadium—a $1.2 billion project that is currently being built—will have a roof that opens and closes like a camera shutter. The roof will have eight petals that open in eight minutes to create an open-air stadium. When open, the roof will look like a flower from above. In addition, the developers plan to meet the highest LEED certification through solar panels and floor-to-ceiling windows in one end to allow for more natural light. Besides having electric car charging stations, the stadium will feature a “Technology Lounge” allowing fans to access digital media (including fantasy football) while watching the game.

Technology in Homebuilding

I have written in the past about the smart home that integrates different functions such as heating, lighting, security, sound, and even appliances like washers and dryers into one remotely accessible network. These are designed to make it easy to manage the home system from one device. The latest push is to create a network standard where all devices will talk together, similar to the office networking standards developed years ago.

Another use of technology in architecture is high-tech windows. My wife and I built our home 20 years ago and were careful to install low-E argon filled windows. We have a lot of windows to take advantage of passive solar light and heat. These windows have kept our heating bill low over the years. One of the new types of windows, however, would have saved us even more money. This special glass made by GlassX employs a phase change material (PCM) to detect the type of solar radiation and light coming through the window. It has the ability to store excessive heat in a substrate embedded in the window and can then release that heat into the structure during cooler night-time temperatures. This technology has been used in commercial buildings and is scaling now to home use. These windows and similar innovations are all aimed at reducing home energy consumption.

Bluetooth Enabled Toilets

One of the more interesting examples of advances in home technology is the Bluetooth-enabled toilet by Kohler. You can stream music from any device to the built-in speakers. You can also choose between eight different colors of ambient light and warm the seat via the remote control. The toilet opens and closes automatically and has an integrated bidet with regulated water temperature, set through the remote control. All of this will only add $6,338.50 to your building or remodeling budget!

Thoughts

A common thread in architectural innovation is sustainability. You see this in the push for LEED certification, and you see it in the individual products that are coming to market. Even the toilet mentioned previously is doing its part by promoting low water usage. These innovations are designed to reduce consumption of natural resources but at the same time provide us with conveniences and control over our environment. This looks like a sustainable business model to me. What do you think?

Author Kelly BrownAbout Kelly Brown

Kelly Brown is an IT professional, adjunct faculty for the University of Oregon, and academic director of the UO Applied Information Management Master’s Degree Program. He writes about IT and business topics that keep him up at night.

From Green to Blue… and Beyond?

Today’s post is written by Jake Pollack, program manager for the UO Sustainability Leadership Certificate Program.

Over the past few years I have carefully followed not only the colors that are affiliated with sustainability, and their implications, but how sustainability is paired (or not) with technology. So, while it may seem elementary (or primary in the case of blue, and secondary in the case of green—apologies for the educator jokes) the colors point to deeper implications of culture and the blending of different approaches to sustainability and technology. Back in 2009, when I read Andrew Kirk’s Counterculture Green, I started thinking about the historical aspects of the traditional rift between the environmental movement and the world of technology. Having grown up as a nature lover and digital native, I understood the tension between appreciating ecological systems and playing video games, but this, of course, is a much deeper discussion that can’t be covered in one blog entry.

However, what I can chart are some of the recent trends that are promising and point out a few challenges that I see in the future as we move ever deeper into virtual realms where machine-to-machine conversation is the norm, and our dependency on technology is assumed as “natural.” The first of these is the realization that cloud computing has an enormous environmental impact, whether you measure it in terms of water, e-waste, energy consumption, or any other concrete service that is required for large server centers. A recent webinar on Sustainable Industries describes this infrastructure and examples of the continuous improvement and innovation required to make these ventures efficient. A GreenBiz article describes a Stanford study which found that one-tenth of all electricity consumed in the US goes towards the Internet, and reports on the Future of Internet Power group, which is a response by Adobe, eBay, Facebook, HP, salesforce.com, and Symantec to “identify and publicize best practices around low-carbon power-sourcing for data centers in the United States.” Finally, Apple recently announced it will build a giant solar farm to power its Nevada datacenter.

This aspect of greening the cloud is important as big data seems to be on course to grow continuously, and it shows that the major players in both hardware and cloud-based software recognize this as an opportunity in the midst of an unpredictable and volatile energy market. The main challenge actually goes back to the deeper implications of culture and thinking about what all this computing power is actually used for and who is using it. In other words, the question remains whether to put this incredible computing power to use for further preservation and maintenance of the living systems of our planet, or to continue disseminating kitten videos across the Internet. At this time, that seems an oversimplification, but my guess is that in the future, we’ll be paying much more careful attention to the end uses of data and have to make some difficult decisions about these results. In light of cities moving to models of resilience and the recent release of President Obama’s climate commitments, there will be major implications for technology resources as well as the information that is passed through those networks.

 

Jake Pollack

Jake has worked in sustainability leadership settings internationally for the last six years in higher education and is currently the program manager for the UO Sustainability Leadership Certificate Program. He has mentored and trained students and professionals in aspects of sustainability ranging from cross-cultural communication to organizational transformation. His PhD research examined interdisciplinary and collaborative models of sustainability and a new triple bottom line of resilience, integrity, and commitment. Though his work in the field began in ecovillages and grassroots centers of innovation, he is now interested in the scale of cities and cultivating a cross-sector platform for professionals who wish to accelerate and incubate projects that address our most significant sustainability challenges.