Construction Management Program Goes Green for Greeks

Students in Florida Tech’s construction management program recently teamed up with the Chi Phi fraternity to design a future off-campus housing facility with sustainability in mind.

Construction management program goes green

Established in 1824, Chi Phi is one of the oldest fraternities in America, boasting over 45,000 members worldwide. The Florida Tech chapter has been steadily growing its membership, spurring the National Chi Phi Housing Corporation to look for ways to expand housing for its Florida Tech chapter members.

To raise funding for the project, the fraternity needs to submit a design proposal to its alumni and charter members. “The vision of this new housing facility is to have sustainable and eco-friendly design features that will benefit future tenants as well as the environment,” says Lily Buth ’15, who is in Florida Tech’s construction management program.  Such innovations to the design include solar panels, recycled insulation, low-impact materials, power-saving light fixtures and low water use appliances.

Sustainable Senior Design

Lily and her senior design team will showcase their project during the Northrop Grumman Engineering and Science Design Showcase. “At the showcase, we will have a digital 3D model of the building projected on a screen so viewers can virtually walk through the building in a digital environment,” says Lily. From this virtual model, a 3D printed version with a detachable roof will be created so onlookers can see inside a physical model.

To help aid in the fundraising of the project, the team assembled a construction schedule for the completion of the physical building, and a preliminary cost estimate package with detailed specifications, annotations and cited resources of the various materials to be used. “This will help the fraternity get a better idea of how long it will take and approximately how much it will cost to build,” she says.

Construction management program in the community

Florida Tech’s construction management program has been heavily involved in local community projects like these and others, like Habitat for Humanity. “Our construction management faculty are constantly looking for new ways to challenge us and offer opportunities to utilize our skills in real-life situations.  This new relationship with the local Chi Phi chapter and the construction management program is just another example of how students are supporting the community and thinking outside of the box in terms of sustainability,” she says.