Smart Grid Challenge

Program staff will:

• Identify 5 high school teens to be the Student Design Team that will be introduced and gain knowledge around to energy sustainability concepts that tie in the importance of the Smart Grid
• To support the SDT in creating these design challenges, YOUmedia staff will collaborate with CAF and NEXT.cc staff — design and instructional experts — to create and host a series of 5 unique workshops from September to November in fall 2015.

The Student Design Team and teens will:

• Take on the responsibility of creating a series of design challenges called Sustainability Hacks. These sustainability hacks will
• Foster collaboration with other high school teens
• Create a final design challenge of a public space that considers energy conservation principles that they will be introduced to in the sustainability hacks.

Throughout the design stage, teens will participate in various interest-based Smart Grid activities such as accessing energy usage or understanding artificial vs. natural light and will also use various digital tools for developing design responses. As YOUmedia teens have vested interests and experiences in the space, teens will incorporate these energy sustainability and design principles to other spaces they utilize or like. By acquiring these skills teens will become ambassadors of energy conservation and the Smart Grid, and will become educated consumers of energy cost by knowing what alternative energy sources can save money. This knowledge helps teens decide how a space should be designed whether it be their room, home, or other space they use.