Case Study: 3G - Green Design, Green Technology and … and Green Enterprise ... Present design ideas in a poster; Propose marketing strategy. ... 3G– Green Design, Green Technology

143

Case Study:

3G - Green Design, Green

Technology and Green Enterprise

(Teacher’s Guide)

Case Study (Teacher’s Guide) : 3G– Green Design, Green Technology and Green Enterprise

144

Author

Mr Li Yu-wai

Head of Department (Design and Technology)

Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School

Project Coordinators

Mr Li Yat-chuen

Senior Training Consultant

Institute of Professional Education And Knowledge, VTC

Mr Tsang Siu-wah, Ephraim

Training Consultant

Institute of Professional Education And Knowledge, VTC

The copyright of the materials in this Case Study belongs to the Education Bureau of

the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Duplication of materials in this Case Study may be used freely for non-profit making educational

purposes only. In all cases, proper acknowledgements should be made. Otherwise, all rights are

reserved, and no part of these materials may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in

any form or by any means without the prior permission of the Education Bureau of

the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

© Copyright 2010

Note by the Institute of Professional Education And Knowledge, VTC:

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright for the photographs and images in this Case Study as

needed. We apologize for any accidental infringement and shall be pleased to come to a suitable

arrangement with the rightful owner if such accidental infringement occurs.


145

Case Study: 3G - Green Design, Green Technology and Green Enterprise

(Teacher’s Guide)

1. General Information

1.1 Subject: Design and Technology

1.2 Level: S3

1.3 Learning elements:

Knowledge Contexts Process Impact

Common topics

• Technology & Society

(Environmental issues, Green

Design, Green Technology and

Green Enterprise)

• Design & Application (Design

consideration, Product design)

• Consumer education

(Consumers’ rights and

consumers’ choice)

Systems & Control

• Application of systems

(Electronic products:

Fluorescent Light)

.

Operations & Manufacturing

• Project management (Planning

and organizing work,

Cooperation and coordination

in projects)

• Information search

from Internet on

environmental

issues

• Apply knowledge in

“3 Green”

• Writing a proposal

on Green policy for

a school

• Develop

communication and

organization skills

• Reflection from

different views of

different

stakeholders

• Green sense to the

enterprise

operation

• Response to

climate change and

global warming


146

1.4 Key Features and Task Definition

Case Study: Students should be made aware of the relevance of the technology they are studying to the real world. Case studies on technology and design enable students to put their learning into an authentic context, and so provide an additional resource that can add a new dimension to learning about technology and design.

Authentic Context: Students could understand the issues of Green design, Green Technology and Green Enterprise in response to environmental issues through an example, namely energy saving lightings.

Knowledge Context Covered: Common Topic – Technology & Society (Environmental issues)

Students in this generation are going to face the “third” industrial

revolution of Green economy whilst the “second one” is said to be

the emerging of IT industry. A report from the American Solar

Energy Society stated that one in every four Americans would work

in environmental related enterprise in the next generation. They

would be regarded as ‘Green Worker”. The “Green Ability” would

also be an attribute to be considered by the employer.

In this case study, students should build up a clear concept of “Green Design”, “Green

Technology” and “Green Enterprise”. Students should understand the effect from

consumers’ Green sense to enterprise operation. Students should build up a sense

about what technologies have developed in order to respond to the climate change and

global warming and what policy and operation the enterprises have made in response

to the increasing demand from Green conscious consumers.

In the study, students will apply their knowledge to propose a sustainable Green policy

for their school. It will be conducted in form of a competition. Each group needs to

make a presentation of their plan. The winning group will put their plan into action in

their campus with other group members as their partners.


147

1.5 Learning Outcomes

Students are expected to:

1. Have a sense of global economy regarding the environmental issue;

2. Understand the detrimental effect of electronic products to the environment;

3. Understand what the Green design concept is;

4. Understand what Green technologies are being used and developed for;

5. What policies are being adopted by “Green Enterprise” in response to

environmental conscious consumers;

6. Consider the economical factor in Green policy;

7. Propose a sustainable Green policy for the school or propose a conceptual

design of a Green electronic gadget;

8. Develop their communication and organisation skills by implementing their

plan.

2. Teaching Notes

2.1 The story

Please refer to the Resource Materials

2.2. Learning and Teaching

2.2.1 Organization

Theme: Understanding of Green design, enterprise and technology

No. of periods: 12 periods

Duration of each period: 35 mins

Assignments:

• Research: Worksheets:

• Tasks:

1. Interview record

2. Propose a sustainable Green Policy

3. List Green design features

4. Poster design

• Group Presentations: PowerPoint

• Implementation of the proposed sustainable Green policy plan for the school


148

2.2.2 Schedule of Work

Period Teaching / Learning Activities

01

Understanding the case and tasks

� Briefly explain the case topic;

� Explain the tasks and activities;

� Explain the assessment criteria;

� Brainstorming a MP3 product;

� Complete Class Activity One;

� Complete evaluation sheet before the lesson ends.

02-03 Forming groups and Studying the case

� Form groups of 3 to 4 students per team;

� Introduce the story of the case study;

� Information search about RoHS, WEEE, CFLs and T5;

� Guide students to complete Class Activity Two to Four through

small group and class discussion;

� Complete evaluation sheet before the lesson ends.

04-05 Research and data collection

� Encourage small group discussion to understand the case content;

� Conduct an interview to collect primary information;

� Use Interview Record Sheet;

� Prepare for a 10 minutes presentation;

� Teacher provides guidance to each group but not the answer.

06-08 Prepare a School Plan / Product Design

Task 1

� Guide students to apply the knowledge acquired to propose a

sustainable Green policy for their school;

� Guide students to prepare an implementation plan;

� Guide students to prepare an evaluation or criteria to assess the

implementation of the project;

� Guide students to propose a project schedule.

Task 2

� Design a conceptual design of a Green electronic gadget based on

the agreed criteria;

� Present design ideas in a poster;

� Propose marketing strategy.


149

Period Teaching / Learning Activities

09-10 Presentation

� Students deliver a 10 minutes presentation of their proposal on a

proposal Green policy or a Green product design;

� Teacher and peer assessment;

� Students will vote which plan/product will be selected for

implementation or which one is the best environmental-friendly

design.

11-12 Implementation of school Plan

� Students use their time after school to organize this activities;

� Teachers provides resources and guidance to the students.


150

3. Activities and suggested answers

A. Class Activity One

1. You are a group of product designers. Use a Concept Map to present the ideas of

Green MP3.

2. You have only 5 minutes to complete your tasks and share your ideas afterward.

Tips to students:

A Green MP3 may comprise the following environmental parameters

• A compact size smaller than the regular ones, use less materials

• Use recyclable materials

• Use less packaging materials

• Low energy consumption with energy saving mode;

• Green policy to promote recycle practice of customers;

• Longer life span

• Compliance with RoHS regulations.

Remarks:

• Students need to substantiate their ideas with specific elaborations.

• Teacher may invite those groups with great ideas to share in the lesson. Teacher

may also facilitate small group discussion by sitting in the groups.

B. Class Activity Two

Conduct an Information search to answer the following questions.

Suggested website for reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive

1. What is the coverage of RoHS and WEEE on electrical and electronic products?

Categories of Electrical and Electronic equipment affected by RoHS and

WEEE are small and large household appliances, IT & telecommunication

equipment, consumable equipment (such as electrical toothbrushes and printers),

lighting equipment, electrical & electronic tools, toys, leisure & sports equipment

and automatic dispensers.

Coverage of WEEE extends to medical devices, monitoring and control

instrument.


151

2. What are the six harmful substances banned by RoHS?

Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, Polybrominated biphenyis

(PBB) and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)

Remarks: Teacher can ask students to conduct information search about the full name

and functions of PBB and PBDE in electronic and electrical appliances as a further

activity.

C. Class Activity Three

1. What is BFR? Why it is used in the printed circuit board?

BFR stands for Brominated flame retardants which are group of brominated

organic substances that have an inhibitory effect on the ignition of combustible

organic materials.

The electronics industry accounts for the greatest consumption of BFRs. In

computers, BFRs are used in printed circuit boards and components, such as

connectors, plastic covers and cables.

BFRs are exceptionally effective in fire prevention. They reduce the probability

that an item will ignite. Brominated flame retardants hinder the spread of the fire

and thus provide valuable extra time for evacuation in the early stages of a fire.

That is critical to the life saving.

2. Why the recycling rate is so low? What hinder the enterprise to recycle the used

products?

It is all about the cost. The cost includes high labour cost in classifying the

types of recyclable wastes and transportation cost. The profit made from the

reused materials usually cannot cover the cost spent in recycling the materials.

Most enterprises suggest that government should subsidise this recycling

scheme by providing land to establish recycling spot so as to reduce the

transportation cost. The used products should be designed to be easily classified

and dismantled for reuse and recycle.

Remarks; Students are expected to have their own ideas when answering these

open-ended questions. The suggested answers provided are for reference only and

teachers should have their professional judgment and knowledge to give appropriate

feedbacks to the students. Teacher should also concern about the participation and

involvement of students in their learning process rather than the answer itself.


152

D. Example 1 - Energy Saving Lightings

Do you know what parts are inside the Compact fluorescent light bulbs?

There are two main parts in a CFL: the gas-filled tube (also called bulb or

burner) and the electronic ballast.

An electrical current from the ballast flows through the gas, causing it to emit

ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light then excites a phosphor coating on the inside of

the tube. This coating emits visible light.

The basic construction of typical electronic ballast involves a low-pass filter,

rectifier, buffer capacitor and a high frequency oscillator. The basic operation is that

after passing a low-pass filter, the mains voltage at 50Hz power frequency is

rectified by an AC/DC converter. This converter also contains the buffer capacitor,

which is charged with a DC voltage. In the high frequency oscillator this DC voltage

is transformed into a high frequency voltage which provides the power for the lamp.

E. Example 2 Fluorescent Light

What is the mercury content in traditional florescent lamp?

CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing

– an average of 4 milligrams. By comparison, older thermometers contain about

500 milligrams of mercury – an amount equal to the mercury in 125 CFLs.

Thanks to technology advances and a commitment from members of the

American National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the average mercury

content in CFLs has dropped at least 20 percent of 4 milligrams in the past year.

Some manufacturers have even made further reductions, dropping mercury

content to 1.4 – 2.5 milligrams per light bulb.

F. Class Activity Four

3. Now we all know CFLs can greatly reduce the electricity bill but not at the expenses

of the amount of light output. Do you know what materials are inside the Compact

fluorescent light bulbs? Why most of the CFLs are in the shape of spiral tube?


153

There are two main parts inside a CFL, the gas-filled tube (also called bulb or

burner) and the magnetic or electronic ballast. Electrical energy, in the form of an

electrical current, from the ballast flows through the gas, causing it to emit

ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light then excites a white phosphor coating inside of

the tube. This coating emits visible light. CFLs that flicker if they use a magnetic

ballasts; CFLs with electronic ballasts are now much more common.

Spiral tube type can increase the surface area of florescent materials and

concentrate the light intensity and density at a minimal volume.

4. As explained above, the T5 has more benefits to the environment than T8 and T12,

however, why not so many people are going to replace their fluorescent lamps at

home?

T5 is more expensive than T8 and T12. T5 has higher capital cost but it will be

justified in the long run by its energy saved (consumes 36% energy less compared

with T8 and T12). However, users need to replace the base and the ballast which

is quite expensive. Users usually do not see the urgent need to replace the whole

set of fluorescent lamp, they will keep the old base and ballast and just replace the

tube at much lower cost.

Extended Learning: “What is Ballast?” can be a further activity for the students.

Brief comparison between Electromagnetic Ballast and Electronic Ballast:

• Compared to electromagnetic ballast, energy losses in electronic ballast are

reduced as the solid state circuit contains no conventional copper windings. The

energy saved by electronic ballast can be up to 28% as recommended by EMSD.

• Benefits of electronic ballast over electromagnetic ballast:

� Rapid or instant starting of lamp without flickering.

� One ballast can be designed to drive more than one lamp, whereas one

electromagnetic ballast can only drive one lamp.

� Increased lifetime due to lower operating current.

� Quiet operation.

� Dimmable version is also available.

� No visible flicker during operation.

� No stroboscopic effect by high frequency operation.

� Low operating temperature and reduce blackening in the vicinity.

� Much lighter in weight.


154

4. Tasks

Teacher can duplicate and customize the form for their use.

Interview Record Form

For individual/group use

Worksheet Code : D&T/CS-3G-WS01 Date: _____ /_____/ ______

Group/Name : Class: ________

Task: Interview the school stakeholders to collect information about the way

of promoting sustainable Green policy in school

Suggested Answers:

Name of Interviewee: ______________

The interviewees may be the Principal, teachers, fellow students and clerical staff.

Suggested Interview Questions:

10. Do you think our school is Green enough?

Usually the school cannot be regarded as a perfect Green school as there

must be room for improvement and more environmental friendly.

11. What measures can be taken to cut down the electricity bill?

Control the use of lightings, air conditioners, electrical appliances and

computers in terms of time and good practices, such as turning off the computers

immediately after using.

12. Should we replace all the lights by the energy saving ones?

Replace the traditional light bulbs with CFLs and T5 Fluorescent lighting.

Calculate the capital investment and the energy saved during the expected life

span when using the CFLs and T5 fluorescent lighting..

13. Can we control the use of paper?

Limited use of paper, quota control, use printed-paper or recycled paper, print

both sides.

14. Can we breakeven the cost invested to improve the energy efficiency?

Check against the energy saving labels of the electrical appliances so as to

calculate the energy saved during a certain period of time. To find out the time the

devices need to be used to cover the extra money spent in new installation.

Teacher Remarks:


155

Worksheet: Propose a plan on sustainable Green policy

For group use

Worksheet Code : D&T/CS-3G-WS02 Date : ____ /_____/ ______

Group: Class : _________

Task: Propose a plan on sustainable Green policy for a school

Objectives:

e.g. : To reduce the expenditure in electricity bill by 8%

Existing Situation/Problem:

e.g.: Lightings used in the classroom and corridors are all T12 fluorescent lights. The

expenditure in lightings may now occupy high percentage of total energy

consumption.

Action Plan:

e.g. Calculate the total number of lightings to be replaced. The capital cost involved

such as the cost of materials and the installation fee.

Justifications:

e.g. Calculate the money saved during the servicing life of CFLs and fluorescent

lights. Forecast the time for breakeven to balance the energy saved during the

service life and the capital cost.

Resources:

e.g. The energy saving label for the calculation of energy expenditure.

Budget Planning:

e.g. The unit price of CFLs and T5 fluorescent lighting plus the installation fee.

Schedule:

e.g. To find out the schedule that minimize the impact on normal operation of

classroom teaching and safety.

Manpower/organization:

e.g. Contract out the installation work, assign menial tasks such as cleaning to minor

staff of the school or commission to social enterprise.

Teacher Remarks:


156

Worksheet: List Green design features

For individual/group use


Group/Name : Class: ________

Task: List the Green design features to be adopted in your new product.

Type of Product:

Green Design Features:

(Hints: Design features need to be quantified, such as the percentage of packaging

materials to be saved and the percentage of weight to be reduced.)

Suggested Answers:

Calculate the percentage of size reduced;

Suggest environmental friendly materials;

Design a packaging with less materials;

Recycling scheme, such as pre-paid envelope and trade-in used product;

Use less parts, recycle-easy design;

Reliable and use longer.

Teacher Remarks:


157

Worksheet: Poster Design

For individual use


Name : Class: ________

Task: Design a promotion poster for your new product with focus on the

Green design features.

Hints:

Use freehand sketching to present your ideas;

Colour pencils for rendering is recommended;

Highlight all Green features in additional to the product specifications;

Communication and aesthetics are the assessment criteria.

Teacher Remarks:

5. Assessment

Please refer to the Resource Materials.

6. References

• Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37906.asp

• Proposal writing

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9891/nsf9891.htm#step1

• Hong Kong Productivity Council

http://www.hkpc.org/html/eng/common/index.jsp

Case Study: 3G - Green Design, Green Technology and … and Green Enterprise ... Present design ideas in a poster; Propose marketing strategy. ... 3G– Green Design, Green Technology

Documents