EPICS: Engineering Projects in

Community Service

Habitat for Humanity Projects

http://epics.ecn.purdue.edu/hfh

Habitat for HumanityBringing families and communities in

need together with volunteers and resources to build decent, affordable housing" - HFH International

The HFH EPICS team tasks are to design systems and structures to minimize home construction and energy costs.

Habitat for HumanityHFH team works on the National,

State, & Local Levels

Multi-Institutional ProjectsNotre DameOhio StateWisconsin-Madison

Purdue’s Habitat TeamNational Teams

Homeowner Surveys (NDB)Construction Tutorial (Tutorials)

Local TeamsHeadquarters and Training Facility (HQ)Restore Database Inventory

Management (Restore)

Homeowner Surveys

National Database Team

Team MembersJeff Ross

Noah SolomonJohn Horst

Arthur Thompson

Problem StatementProblems for HFHI

No centralized survey administration and data collection system. Some local affiliates do their own surveying, but data is not shared.

There is no concrete quantitative data, currently, to show the benefits of the Habitat program to the community, both locally and nationally.

Homeowner information and responses must be securely collected, transferred, and analyzed to be in line with Habitat’s organizational mission.

MethodologyProposed Solution

Having a centralized secure server database for survey information and homeowner responses

Homeowner ID’s will be requested from the server but will be kept in paper records as to ensure the security of the information being recorded.

The web-based program will consist of three main parts: A Survey Generator Homeowner Response Collection\Input Statistical Analysis

Technical SolutionThe current program relies on a single

centralized database to hold the surveys, responses, and a list of questions and answers. It also relies on a web application to act as the front end to the database.

HFHI standards are to use Microsoft products. We have adhered to HFHI standards. We are using ASP.net and MS SQL for this tool.

TasksCompleted

Beta Version Written (Spring 2004)Reestablished communication (Fall 2004) Design Documentation (Fall 2004)Server up and running (Fall 2004)Team has software (Fall 2004)Documentation for all Previous Design

Steps (Fall 2004)Outstanding

Version 1.0

Version 1.0Pending approval from the project

partner the following system will be implemented and delivered in Week 12 of Spring 2005:User Management System (2 User

classes) National (1) Local (~1700)

Each user level has different rights National: Make Surveys, Enter Data, Export

Data Local: Data Entry

Next StepsMeeting with Professor Haurin at OSUReceive Feedback from IS dept at

HFHIStart implementing design specs

(Week 1-7)System Testing (8-12)Targeted Delivery Week 12 Spring

2005

Tutorials Team

Team MembersAaron Rueth

John HostetlerHannah Mugford

Richard Bowerman

Construction Tutorials

Introduction

Affiliates need a professional grade construction tutorial geared towards their volunteer base.

Also wish to improve volunteer efficiency by giving them a solid background in their area of contribution.

Project Overview

Construction Tutorials ProjectTutorial Template

Webpage Reference Card

Tutorial GeneratorReview ProcessFeedback & Comment ForumRevision and Update System

ProgressTutorial Template

Assess usability of current templateTesting the template on groupsSurveys to collect data

University of Wisconsin-MadisonFour page on-site reference cardCurrently six completed (Drywall, Siding,

Trim, Interior Doors, Painting, Shingling)

ProgressTutorial Generator

Started this semesterASP.NET and C#

Graphical User Interface Information Entry Currently working on HTML creation

Beta version complete in Spring 2005

ConclusionThis semester, we came up with an

overall view of where our project was headed and what was needed to delivery a project that could be continually revised and updated.

The Tutorial Generator is the first phase in the automation of this project. After the completion of the generator, we will focus on the other systems involved in our project.

Headquarters and Training Facility

Headquarters Team

Team MembersJaime Alexander

Dan RorickTim Chou

Josh Copeland

Overview Problem: Habitat for Humanity of Greater

Lafayette has outgrown their space. They need a place to continue construction during the winter months. Also, they would like to consolidate restore and offices.

Goal: Our objective is to develop a feasibility report on a new training center/office building for the Greater Lafayette area Habitat for Humanity

Project Information Technical Progress:

Problem Identification Specification Development

Current Phase in Progress: Conceptual Design

Documentation Completed in the EPICS design process:

Project Charter Tech Appendix Executive Summary

Project PlanningNext Semester: Complete Conceptual

DesignDecision Matrix of RequirementsDesign Decision TableChoose Design Approach

Deliver Feasibility Report to HFH Lafayette, March 2005

Conclusion

Team Headquarters is a few short weeks away from delivering the feasibility report to our Project Partner. Therefore, the objectives outlined are attainable and will be completed on time.

Restore Inventory Management Database

Restore Team

Team MembersGarth PetersonMitchell HarrisPeter Morici

GoalsCreate a point of sale (POS) terminal

Must be easy to use Suggest sale prices Simple interface As few steps as possible

Create invoice receiptsAccept donationsInventory Search

Search by categoryFinancial report generator

GoalsBuild an inventory database

Linked to POS terminalAccess by HFH management at HQ

(future project)

Current State of OperationBeginning Detailed Design phase

GUI Prototypes completeStarting development of database

ProgressFinished Problem Identification and

Specification developmentFinishing Conceptual Design

Database structureProgram flowcharts

Beginning Detailed Design phaseGUI Prototypes completeStarting development of database

Small database prototypes

User Interface LayoutTransactions Tab GUI

Scanned Item shows up in Item Window with price

Search option for the event the barcode falls off

Manual entry for the event object can not be found

Checkout button to finish transaction

User Interface LayoutDonations Tab GUI

Allows for the entry and categorizing of new donations

Categorized list for easy entry of items

Description of objects may be added in Description window

User Interface Layout

Inventory Tab GUI

• Allows for a search of the inventory of the store

•Search by Category then Sub-Category

User Interface Layout

Reports Tab GUI

•Generates financial reports

•Ability to search by any time period

•Ability to print report

Database Layout

Category*

Sub Category*

General Item Specific Item

General Table*

Item* Item*

Specific Table*

Item

Specific Table*

Item

*Multiple Instances

Database Structure

CVS and Eclipse Eclipse integrates

CVS version control into the development environment.

Both CVS and Eclipse are free / Open Source

CVS provided by the CS department

Eclipse on all ITAP computers

Java & MySQL Integration

•Java Connects to databases via JDBC

•MySQL is free and provides free driver for interfacing between the two.

Advantages of JDBC

•Use standard SQL statements

•Standard Java interface

Database Connect Code

Database Query

Historic Centennial Neighborhood Association

HCNA: Energy Efficiency in Historic

Structures

Ball State University: CERES

The Project Partner Historic Centennial Neighborhood

Association A group of homeowners determined to

revitalize and stabilize the Lafayette neighborhood

Enlisted the help of EPICS for an engineering solution

The TeamGaurav Singhal

Mechanical Engineering

Nikhil ThomasMechanical Engineering

Bridget WebbCivil Engineering

The Problem

Historic Homes

High Cost of Energy Bills

The SolutionCustom built modeling package

Focus on historic residencesTakes into consideration the Secretary of

the Interior’s Standards for RehabilitationInput specifics on houseOutput guidelines on energy retrofits

The Objectives

1. What are the economic goals?

2. Are the historic homes inefficient?

3. If they are, how are they losing energy?

4. How can the efficiency be improved?

5. Will this change the historic value of the structure?

6. How can we inform the community of our findings?

The New TeamNew team

Largest priority was creating a roadmap for future teams to followDivision of team into subgroupsAim to shorten time on learning curve for

following teams

The SubgroupsCARE

Community Awareness Research and Education

DATAData Acquisition Testing and Analysis

MATModeling and Testing

CARE: This semester

Acquisition of economic dataExisting economic data for individual homes

and residences in the region Attempted to find monetary goalContacts within Cinergy and Vectren

CARE: Future Semesters

Act as liaison between community and EPICS team

Educate community on energy efficiency issues

Complete economic researchLiterary Research

DATA: This Semester

Freshman Engineering house surveysCreated surveys of four historic housesResearched guidelines for improvementsCompiled information generated from

freshmanHOBO sensor research

DATA: Future Semesters

Use sensors in a historic houseCollect local climate dataConstruct data table for temperature

and relative humidityCollaborate with CARE by providing

engineering updates

MAT: This Semester

Researched different modeling packagesRem/RatePrismEnergyPlus

Web based toolsContacted modeling experts

MAT: Future Semesters

Utilize data from DATATest each modeling package for

validityCreate accurate models for historic

housesDefine assumptions and limitations for

each existing modeling packageDevelop a custom modeling package

DeliverablesSpring 2005

Informational packets for communityRecommendations on energy efficiency

improvements to participating homeowners

Commencement of community seminarsSensor and modeling data from first test

houseDefinition of economic goals

SummaryAccomplished projects

Introductory collection of dataCreation of “roadmap” for future teams

Ongoing projectsDefinition of economic aimsCollection of house and local dataTesting of existing modeling packages

Final ProjectCreation of custom modeling package

Discussion

Any Questions

Thank you