Annotated Bibliography

“2016 Energy Benchmarking Report.” PECO, 2016,

http://www.phillybuildingbenchmarking.com/

This source is an annual report about energy consumption in Philadelphia in the year 2016. It especially breaks down the consumption of the percentage of school usage in the city. This report also shows how energy consumption in the city has changed over four years. This report is reliable since it is coming directly from PECO’s website; a major provider of electricity in the city. I plan to use this source as a way to show how my data can connect to our larger community, Philadelphia. I plan to include this data directly in my end report when comparing the city average to our average as a school.

Desjardins, Jeff. “What Uses the Most Energy in Your Home?” Visual Capitalist, 14 Nov.

2016, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/what-uses-the-most-energy-home/

This site shows an infographic of what appliances use the most electricity in an average household. I need this because I need to know the primary appliances I need to focus a lot of my analysis on when I collect the data in the school. This source shows me that heating and lighting are the things I may want to focus on when approving the amount of energy we use at SLA. This source is kind of reliable as the publisher of the site has done other infographics that have been referred to, but I am a little weary because it is data on a household and not a larger building or school.

“Electricity and the Environment.” Electricity and the Environment - Energy Explained, Your

Guide To Understanding Energy - Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_environment

This source explains the importance of lower one’s energy usage for the environment. I really want to include this source in my report to explain why my Capstone is important and relevant. The source even does talk about greenhouse gas emissions, so I need to make sure I reference the specific part about electricity consumption in my report. I do want to reference where our electricity is from and how it affects the Earth as well, which this source completely covers. I find this source very reliable because it is published from the United States of America’s government and from its energy department.

“Estimating Appliance and Home Electronic Energy Use.” Department of Energy,

https://energy.gov/energysaver/estimating-appliance-and-home-electronic-energy-use    

This source is a calculator like website which can help someone determine how much an appliance is costing them on their electricity bill. It is especially useful because the price calculator includes wattage of you appliance and price per state. I plan to use this to calculate how much our school would be spending if we had to pay these fees out of pocket. I would then use it to determine the solutions I want to implement and see the savings we gain. This source is reliable because it is sponsored by the U.S.’s department of energy in the government.

“Estimating Electricity Usage.” Calculate Your Energy Consumption | SaveOnEnergy.Com®,

SaveOnEnergy.com, https://www.saveonenergy.com/energy-consumption/

This site is a step by step guide on figuring out how much electricity different appliances actually use. It also provides a small section of different estimates of different appliances’ usage. The site even goes a step further and helps someone convert the rates they found into kilowatts per hour and then a month estimate. I plan to use this source to help me understand the data I will be collecting. Then I can use this guide to figure out some hypotheses on some of the appliances’ electricity and then later, cost. This source is reliable because the domain it is on is also a company that professionally deals with electricity conservation.

Guidelines for Writing Reports in Engineering. Monash University,

https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/567156/guidelines-writing-reports.pdf

This article is a lesson showing how someone should write a professional engineering report. This source explains the key parts of the report, as well as a more detailed breakdown of what structure it needs to have and what things need to be included in the report. It even provides examples of every section, which is very helpful. I would use this source mainly in the fourth quarter when I distribute this report I will write with my data and findings. I find this source really reliable because it’s written to especially teach university students by mature engineers with a degree.

Lanzisera, Steven, et al. Methods for Detailed Energy Data Collection of Miscellaneous and

Electronic Loads in a Commercial Office Building. U.S. Department of Energy, Apr. 2013,

https://eta.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/publications/methods_for_detailed_energy_data_collection.pdf  

This source runs through a longer official report on an energy use analysis in a larger building environment. This is especially useful as our school building is a larger building than just the average household. This report even walks through their data collection process using different technology. This source is also useful as a way to see how a longer report might look like to a degree. I would use this source as a model on how to approach my larger data collection process in February through April. I find this source very reliable because it is produced from a professional laboratory.

Meier, A, and HP Siderius . “Should the next standby power target be 0-Watt?”

Escholarship.org, 2017, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/566951pn

This source is another longer report on power consumption. However, this report talks specifically about the concept of standby power consumption. So, lights that are left on when they do not need to be, devices plugged in when they are fully charged or not in use, and other examples. This source is very useful to me as SLA uses a lot of standby power consumption and this source can help me think of a potential avenue to take (the standzero option). I find this source to be reliable as it is sponsored from the U.S. government and is produced from a professional laboratory.

Safar Hatami, and Massoud Pedram. Minimizing the Electricity Bill of Cooperative Users under

a Quasi-Dynamic Pricing Model. University of Southern California, 2010,

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5918/097ada30b8f50400c8a9abd5aba88bea8065.pdf

This source breaks down how to save money in a more mathematically based concept, using a quasi-dynamic pricing equation to complete the goal. The source helpfully breaks down time based pricing and runs through this scenario of an alternative environmentally friendly way of using electricity. This source is useful to me in running through on how to implement data collection (various sensors) and different cost optimization for saving energy. However, I am a little weary about the mathematics involved, but I plan to work through it and see how much I can include in my report. This source is reliable because it was produced in the University of Southern California from an electrical engineer.

Sexton, Joe. “Calculate How Many BTUs are Needed to Heat Home.” Inch Calculator,

Construction Calculators, https://www.inchcalculator.com/calculate-many-btus-needed-heat-home/

This source is a calculator like site where someone can determine how many BTUs it is necessary to heat and cool a room from their thermostat. This source also includes a climate zone option because the heating is also determined by the area in which people live. This site also provides explanations on what BTUs are and more information on thermostats and furnaces. I am going to use this source to determine how much energy we need to heat up a room for my data collection process. I have a source for this because our furnace may be hard to access in the building. This website is reliable to a degree, but it is sponsored by Amazon and other companies. It also includes links where the website’s data calculations are based on.

I am a German exchange student who is spending this school year in Philadelphia at SLA; I am part of the Rotary Program. Rotary is a Non Profit Organization with members world wide and one of their actionfields is the Exchange Program where high school students worldwide are able to go on an exchange year. During this year I had a wonderful experience and this is where my Capstone comes into play. I recruited, prepared and helped future exchange students in their preparation for their upcoming year abroad. An important event was the RYLA conference, a weekend long conference for sophomores and junior hosted by Rotary. During this conference I worked on getting many of these high school students to sign up for the exchange program. At the end of the weekend multiple students signed up, with many of them choosing Germany as their country of desire.

Rotary also hosts orientations for future exchange students where I helped out to prepare the exchange students what they will have to expect, different parts of their application etc. I also promoted the exchange on other occasions. One of them was in Langhorne, PA where I advertised the exchange program on a fair to interested people. Other events included promoting the exchange program in front of the so-called Gundaker Foundation or on other fairs

I addition to this I also created where a website about the Exchange program where you can also find interviews with people involved into the program.

Website: https://lhoffmann187.wixsite.com/exchange

1. Bridgewater, Alan, and Gill Bridgewater. Making wood handles, hinges & knobs: the perfect touch for cabinetmaking. Sterling, 1998.

This book, which was recommended and lent to me by my mentor, is probably one of the less useful ones for my specific capstone, but still interesting nonetheless. As I’m not planning on making something with drawers, I most likely won’t have a chance to use the handle making techniques listed in this book. My design isn’t final, however, and depending on the difficulty I may very well decide to add decorative pieces. Also, carving these handles by hand involves a lot of chisel work, which I need to practice. I may create some of the simpler examples to this end.

2. Dahl, Timothy. “How to Cut Gorgeous Dovetail Joints to Up Your Woodworking Game.” popularmechanics.com, Popular Mechanics, 2 Feb. 2016, www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/a19197/how-to-cut-dovetail-joints-woodworking/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018.

This source gives me a few resources. It doesn’t contain much information on its own, but it does link to a few other videos. It’s where I found the Paul Sellers tutorial. It also includes two other videos about how to make dovetails using a table saw and router jig. These aren’t methods I’m particularly interested, but they’re good to have nonetheless. Popular Mechanics is an important magazine, that many people read and trust. They don’t usually focus on woodworking, but the videos they link to are sound and from some websites that I use as sources, which I discovered independently.

3. Greef, Jeff. Marvelous wooden boxes you can make. Betterway, 1996.

This book is also from my mentor, meaning it has been read, reviewed, and approved by another woodworker. The author is a professional woodworker that has published articles in Fine Woodworking, among other places. This book doesn’t focus as much on the type of project I will use for my final, but showcases and details projects that would be good to practice fine joinery on. There are a good few chapters on type of dovetailed boxes, as well as other types. It might not be as helpful as some of the other books for my final project, but a major goal and core value of my capstone is improving my finer skills, which making a small, detailed box could help me do.

4. Haydon, G. “How to Dovetail.” Instructables.com, Instructables, 2 Apr. 2013, www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Dovetail/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018.

Instructables is a source Mr. Kamal swears by. It mostly consists of at home maker uploading their tutorials and how-tos. And yet, many users are very good at doing what they do, and all types of interesting projects end up there. This source is in depth and detailed, and was a little tricky for me to understand at first. Their process is more complicated than the one I used. But it provides good information and an alternate way to do things. It also provides good explanations of how and why to do things, and details measurements to use for other sizes and types of wood, which will come in handy later.

5. Kirby, Ian J., and John Kelsey. Making joints: techniques, tips and problem-Solving tricks. Rodale Press, 1996.

This book, from my mentor, goes into lots of detail amount many types of joints which I will use in my final project. It was the first thing I looked at as it is very good for beginners. It details pretty much anything you would need to know in the process of making joints starting with buying the wood. I used it for my dovetails, but also for mortise/tenon joints and for some project ideas. It’s my all around most useful, generally applicable, resource that I will keep on hand and refer back to as I craft my various projects.

6. Rodel, Kevin. “Coffee Table Puts Joinery on Display.” Finewoodworking.com, FineWoodworking, 1 July 2005, www.finewoodworking.com/membership/pdf/8732/011178038.pdf. Accessed 23 Jan. 2018.

Fine Woodworking is a fairly highly regarded magazine that deals with more complex techniques, as the name implies. This article is a detailed description and walkthrough of the making of one particular type of coffee table. It features diagrams and design schematics and instructions and explanations for all of these. The design is meant to show off joinery, so it is a good concept for me to look at. It mainly uses mortise/tenon joints, which I haven’t focused as heavily on. In general, the design and process will make good reference material for my project, and I may use certain elements, but my final design will most likely not be based on this source.

7. Rodriguez, Mario. “All About Dovetail Joints.” FineWoodworking.com, Fine Woodworking, 12 Sept. 2005, www.finewoodworking.com/2005/09/12/all-about-dovetail-joints. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018.

Another source from Fine Woodworking, this article in particular was very informative about some of the history and theory behind dovetails, as well as common types and what each type is best used for. They give some good numbers and ratios to use. They try to include pictures, but none of the links work which limits the effectiveness of this source. This is good for thinking about dovetails, and not much else, as it doesn’t provide much more information. It may have been more useful if I hadn’t also read better, more specific source, but as it stands I didn’t gain much.  

8. Savage, Adam. “Learning How To Make Dovetail Joints with Adam Savage - YouTube.” youtube.com, Tested, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIpN8yWEqNQ. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018.

This source shows someone else’s process learning to make dovetails which is useful in a few ways. Seeing other people learning and making mistakes can warn you of things to do and not to do that watching a master can not. This source is Adam Savage learning how to make dovetails, starting from a similar place as me, sort of. He obviously has a lot more experience, but the type of carpentry I have done is similar to the type he usually does. Adam Savage is an accomplished maker, and has a lot of expertise in many ways forms of making. Seeing someone of his pedigree learn is especially helpful.

9. Sellers, Paul. “How to Make a Dovetail Joint - The Three Joints - | Paul Sellers - YouTube.” youtube.com, Paul Sellers, 17 Feb. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCYjoj6cfno. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018.

This was my main reference in actually creating the dovetails. This source consists of Paul Sellers, a well known master woodworker, going through his process of making dovetail joints by hand. I found references to this on a few other sources, like Popular Mechanics. I watched it once through at the beginning to check if I would be able to do what he does, and he used tools that I had easy access to and a process I could follow. I referred to this video many times while making my first few dovetails because he details his process slowly and clearly. I also used other videos of his as a guide for chisel sharpening.

10. Tables and desks. Time-Life Books, 1994.

A book from my mentor, this one deals with the making of tables and desks. Seeing as how I’m making a table, this provides a lot of information. It talks about important things other sources overlook like wood size changing with moisture, something I was warned to look into. It gives some tables featuring common dimensions of types of projects which I can refer to depending on my design, and diagrams them too. It also shows common joints to use for each application. It goes on through every step of making a table or desk. This will be very helpful when designing my final project.

For my yearlong Capstone project, I primarily wanted to focus on my interests in terms of my future, in college and beyond. Considering my intention to go to film school, I created a full, feature-length script for a film — an 89 page script to be exact. I also elected to create a short, proof-of-concept film piece featuring some of the base ideas of the film. I worked on the script for a few months, editing and revising both as I went and after finishing, and created the final short film in the final month and a half before the due date of the Capstone. I was able to create most of what I wanted to put together, however not everything can be perfect. This was quite a learning experience in terms of preparation and planning. There were several things I wanted to put in the short film that I wasn’t able to attain, because I couldn’t get the necessary permissions. If I had given myself more time to set those things up, maybe I would have. I also learned a wide variety of things about writing scripts, such as many things about formatting and conventions that I had never even thought of before. Putting word to paper to video is definitely some experience that I feel will be useful moving forwards. All in all, my final product expresses the work I put in, as well as serving as a strong learning experience for what I wanted to learn about.

Short Film: