Scholarship & Research
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Item Assessment of district energy integration between buildings(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2021) Oladeji, Oladayo; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kevin AmendeDistrict heating or cooling is a system for distributing heat or chilled water in a centralized location through various systems which is intended for residential and commercial heating or cooling requirements. Montana State University (MSU) is looking at implementing a future energy district in form of a distributed heat pump model. Implementing such system will help in reducing carbon emissions in the atmosphere, provide energy savings and ensuring energy is being used efficiently. In the summer season, there is a lack of substantial heat sinks in which heat could be utilized and in the winter season there is a lack of substantial heat sources available due to the extreme cold weather. This project identifies systems that serves as heat sinks and sources in buildings and provides substantial energy. This project also looks into the feasibility of connecting such systems together in a building to follow a recirculating heat pump model which operates in the temperature range of 60°F - 90°F. If this model provides much energy saving opportunities, it could be incorporated in buildings on campus here at MSU and connected to the future energy district. The project scope was limited to Barnard Hall, in which heat sources opportunities identified include the building exhaust air system and the process cooling system while heat sink opportunities identified include the domestic hot water system and the outdoor air that needs to be pre heated majority of the time in Bozeman, Montana. Energy calculations were done for each system and imputed into TRNSYS, an extremely flexible graphically based software used to simulate the behavior of transient systems. The heat pump model was then designed and simulated for a time frame of 8760 hours (A year). The researched showed that this provided some energy savings opportunities and yields no profit in general.Item The role of fixX in electron bifurcation(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2016) Miller, Jacquelyn Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: John W. PetersTwo known methods of physiological energy conservation are substrate level phosphorylation and electron transfer phosphorylation. Recently, electron bifurcation has been established as a third and key mechanism of energy conservation in biological processes. This coupling of endergonic and exergonic reactions allows for utilization of reducing potential to perform energetically expensive physiological reactions. A significant and energetically expensive physiological reaction is nitrogen fixation, which provides a substantial portion of the bioavailable nitrogen that life requires. Electron bifurcation is utilized by the FixABCX system that is up regulated during diazotrophic growth and is suggested to bifurcate electrons from NADH to quinone of the electron transport chain through high potential electron transfer proteins and to nitrogenase though low potential electron transfer proteins. The determination of how cellular mechanisms overcome the energy barriers of high potential electron transfers through electron bifurcation is crucial for our fundamental understanding of energy transfer and energy conservation. The work presented in this thesis aims to progress the present knowledge in this third mechanism of energy conservation and shows support for a protein in the FixABCX complex, FixX, as the low potential electron acceptor in the complex. Numerous organisms were investigated as potential model systems for FixABCX with varying degrees of success. The genome of the organism, Roseiflexus castenholzii, contains both the nitrogenase and fixABCX genes and has successfully been used to obtain FixX. This protein shows homology to ferredoxin, a physiological reductant of the nitrogenase Fe protein in some organisms. EPR spectroscopy and sequence analysis suggests FixX contains 2 [4Fe-4S] clusters, while a potentiometric titration shows the clusters to have highly negative mid-point potentials. The preliminary evidence supports FixX of the FixABCX system to be a low potential electron transfer protein.Item Research, an alternative energy "wood" and an architectural solution : project, a residence for Bozeman, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1977) Mesz, Gary E.Item Federal energy policies : a family impact statement(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1978) Anderson, Peggy StrongItem Market valuation of certified green homes : a case study of Colorado's Built Green and Energy Star programs(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2009) Purdie, Amy Joanne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Randal R. Rucker.Green building is a rapidly growing industry. The residential sector is responsible for 21.8 percent of the United States' energy consumption so an increased penetration of the green building industry could affect national energy consumption. Previous willingness to pay studies suggest that buyers are willing to pay a premium for green homes. The presence of a green certification is used as an indicator for sustainable attributes in homes built and sold in Colorado between 1999 and 2009. A hedonic price regression model predicts the sale price of the home as a function of home attributes and green certification status. The presence of green attributes fails to statistically affect the sale price indicating that, contrary to survey data, buyers may not have a willingness to pay for green construction attributes.Item ReDesign : for a new energy paradigm(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2008) Lewton, Alexander Tripp; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Christopher Livingston; Ralph Johnson (co-chair)The design community faces immense pressures amidst diminishing energy supplies and anthropogenic climate change. Increasing ecological and sociopolitical instability demand a fundamental change in how we design for the present and future. In an effort to reduce and reverse the cause of this effect, designers are uniquely positioned to bring about much needed change. The impact of this vantage point is directly proportional to a designer's understanding of the components that conspire to bring about our current climate and energy crisis. These same components are the crucial players that hold the promise for a reinvention, or re-design, of our present situation. Of particular interest within this discourse are the woven elements of municipal government, social, technical and economic systems as they relate to existing practices of building and infrastructure energy use. Within the U.S., many instances suggest the general public has lost sight of the industrial processes that support our way of life. The average U.S. citizen lacks even a basic understanding of their ecological 'footprint' and the industrial processes necessary to procure their quality of life. This gap in knowledge has resulted in a 'cultural numbness' for Americans while permitting these processes to remain disparate and disjointed. Poignant examples exist, however, ripe with intriguing solutions to reverse this trend, ranging from city wide energy conscious strategies to technological building efficiency solutions. The design conclusion of this thesis is a site strategy seeking to synthesize the City of Bozeman's solid waste and wastewater treatment processes - with the ultimate intent to sensitize users to its inherent use and function. Within the context of this strategy is a detailed design for a high performing solid waste handling unit. Of the many complexities addressed in this proposal, the primary objectives are to 1) site plan synergies that maximize energy recovery from waste materials, 2) provide electricity and district heat production, 3) create safe, inviting, and high-efficiency spaces for handling solid waste while serving a balance of municipal and public uses, 4) design for modular expansion, demountability, deconstruction and/or reuse, 5) design safe and dignified work environments.