U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers today released a request for proposals for Solar Decathlon 2013 teams. Collegiate teams interested in participating have until Nov. 10, 2011, to submit the required documentation for consideration.
The Solar Decathlon is an international competition open to all accredited colleges, universities, and other post-secondary educational institutions. Student teams compete to design, build, and operate highly energy-efficient, completely solar-powered houses. The entire Solar Decathlon project encompasses not only the competition but also the project’s design development, construction, and commissioning phases.
Since 2002, thousands of students from around the world have competed in four U.S.-hosted events and learned about high-efficiency buildings and clean energy technologies. Solar Decathlon 2011 will be open to the public Sept. 23–Oct. 2 at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C.
Editor’s Note: This entry has been cross-posted from DOE’s Energy Blog.
In honor of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon—which challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive—we are profiling each of the 20 teams participating in the competition.
New York City’s famously dense urban landscape presents a challenge to developers hunting for a bit of unoccupied space to build on. Team New York believes it’s identified the most underutilized real estate in the entire city—flat rooftops, where space and access to sunlight are plentiful.
More specifically, the Solar Decathlon team, composed of architecture and engineering students from The City College of New York, has designed a house for rooftops of mid-rise buildings—both residential and commercial. The students envision their house, dubbed the Solar Roofpod, as a prototype that can be replicated in densely populated areas around the country.
A Solar Trellis—equipped with both a solar array and solar thermal collectors that will distribute the sun’s heat through a radiant floor system—acts as the primary power source for the house.
For quick assembly, the building envelope is constructed of 64 heavily insulated building blocks, mass-produced in prefabrication facilities. The prefabricated assembly helps keep costs down and allows for easy transportation—via a building roof, staircase, or elevator. Additional elements such as occupancy sensors, energy-efficient lighting, and an energy-efficient HVAC system reduce overall energy consumption.
Students envision two future scenarios for their prototype house post-competition—either as a visitor center and classroom for sustainability education or as part of the school’s planned environmental science center on Pier 26 in Tribeca along the Hudson River.
Erin Pierce is an energy technology program specialist at the Department of Energy.
Editor’s Note: This entry has been cross-posted from DOE’s Energy Blog.
In honor of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon—which challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive—we are profiling each of the 20 teams participating in the competition.
Team Massachusetts Project Manager Spencer Culhane puts the finishing touches on the team's design model. (Courtesy of the Team Massachusetts Flickr photostream)
Team Massachusetts is bringing a unique perspective to the Solar Decathlon this fall. You might say it is a fourth dimension because of the team’s newly constructed 4D Home. But it could also be argued that it is because the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and University of Massachusetts Lowell are collaborating for the team’s first entry into the biennial competition, and they’re both public institutions.
Team Massachusetts has created a compact, energy-efficient, sustainably designed house built for a family of three with two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen, dining room, laundry/mechanical room, and living room. At 945 ft2, the savvy, highly efficient house is aimed at reinventing the idea of New England architecture. Meanwhile, Team Massachusetts is adding the fourth dimension of “time” to the interior of the house (and in name), taking into account the transitions a family and home go through over the years. By using moving walls for adaptable living spaces, rooms can be opened for family gatherings and the extra bedroom removed once the youth has gone off to college.
Outside the 4D Home are deck and gardening areas, with a trellis on the south side supporting the 6.5-kW solar array just above. The trellis doubles as a shade for the house, mirroring the roof. Underneath six of the solar panels, hybrid solar water heaters absorb heat energy to use for the house’s hot water load in conjunction with the heat pump, which will work at night and on cloudy days. All the appliances—including the water heater and refrigerator—are ENERGY STAR-rated.
Energy-efficient design elements—such as super-insulated walls and triple-pane windows—will help reduce heating and cooling costs, adding to the house’s affordability.
Currently, the team is in the construction process and making preparations for its trip to Washington, D.C. Once the competition is complete, Team Massachusetts plans to sell the house to a local family at a discounted price.
Members of Team Massachusetts with the design model of their 4D Home. (Courtesy of the Team Massachusetts Flickr photostream)
To follow Team Massachusetts’ progress on the 4D Home, visit its blog or official Facebook page or follow it on Twitter at @TeamMA_4Dhome.
Erik Hyrkas is a correspondence writer for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
In honor of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon—which challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive—we are profiling each of the 20 teams participating in the competition.
Team Florida's design model of the FLeX House (Credit: All Commercial Photography/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)
It only seems natural that the Sunshine State would combine the power of universities from across the state to bring its solar-powered, energy-efficient house to the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon on the National Mall this fall.
Unlike most teams in the competition—which are composed of participants from one or, less often, two or three schools—Team Florida is made up of members from four Sunshine State universities: the University of South Florida, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida. The team was conceived in the belief that the building industry cannot function effectively without close collaboration among groups of professionals representing different fields of expertise. With this in mind, Team Florida says it is utilizing the brainpower of eight departments of the respective schools—and all of this collaborative expertise is giving Team Florida a unique perspective on its design.
Many of the entries to the competition address unique challenges related to regional climate or locations that do not receive much sun. Team Florida’s FLeX House, on the other hand, was designed specifically for hot, humid climates and sunny places such as those comparable to central Florida. But that doesn’t make its job any easier.
Building a house adapted to Florida’s hot, humid climate is a challenge. Team Florida’s goal is to utilize design approaches that demonstrate the best balance of efficiency, sustainability, and economics. The FLeX House is meant to illustrate Team Florida’s philosophy that “sustainable design practices are inherently good design practices.”
As for the architectural arrangement of the house, the team says it designed it to be as flexible as possible (hence, the name FleX House). This flexibility allows the house to take on different configurations by using movable components that expand or contract the living spaces—which is supported by the continuity of the flooring, ceiling, and interior wall materials.
In addition to their cross-university teamwork, members of Team Florida are working with industry partners to design an affordable building envelope that meets ultra-efficient energy use building criteria. The team says that the house’s “envelope” (the windows, walls, roofs, and foundations) was designed to work equally well throughout the year by “combining an optimum level of insulation for temperature extremes, resistance to air infiltration, transparency for daylight, and flexibility”—a common challenge to homebuilders in central Florida.
After the competition, the FLeX House will become the Zero Energy House Learning Center to raise awareness, demonstrate building science principles, highlight sustainable construction strategies, utilize Florida-friendly landscaping, and illustrate Florida WaterStar practices associated with “climatically responsive” homes.
To follow the team’s progress on FLeX House, visit its blog and official Facebook page or follow it on Twitter at @FLeX_House.
April Saylor is an online content producer and contractor to the Department of Energy Office of Public Affairs.
From left: Joel Towers, executive dean, Parsons; Dorothy Douglas, Deanwood resident; Sheila C. Johnson, board chair, Parsons; Sylvia Brown, ANC commissioner; Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins; Kent Adcock, president and CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C.; Michael Bruno, dean, Stevens Institute of Technology; Neil Grabois, dean, The Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School (Courtesy of Lisa Bleich)
Saving energy to save money—it’s a simple yet effective strategy that can greatly benefit families faced with the variable, often high costs of utility bills. It’s a goal made all the more significant to the Parsons The New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology Solar Decathlon team because the houses they design and build will serve as future residences for two families in the historic Deanwood community of Washington, D.C.
We’ve highlighted the efforts of this team—a collaboration of hundreds of students and supporting faculty from Parsons, Stevens Institute, and Milano the New School for Management and Urban Policy—here on the Energy blog before. While the team is hard at work completing construction of its house for the upcoming Solar Decathlon competition, it is simultaneously working with Habitat for Humanity to start construction of a second house in Deanwood. Post-competition, the two homes will join together as a duplex, providing affordable and energy-efficient residences for the community. The team officially broke ground on the project Wednesday.
In addition to students and faculty, community residents, civic leaders, and government officials were on hand at the groundbreaking to support a goal to “create something that had a life beyond the [National] Mall,” said student team member Amanda Waal. “Bringing Deanwood and Habitat for Humanity into the discussions surrounding the Solar Decathlon has been very important to us,” she added.
Like every Solar Decathlon team, the Parsons and Stevens Institute team has its sights on winning. Yet, even more, its goal is to demonstrate the benefits of energy-efficient design not just for the Deanwood community but also for the nation.
“Changing housing in America—that’s really what we want to do as part of this competition,” said Joel Towers, dean of Parsons.
The team’s strategy of using energy-efficient design principles to keep energy bills at the bare minimum for the long term is already catching on. Habitat for Humanity is applying the team’s standards to six new townhouses in the Ivy City neighborhood of D.C., while other Habitat affiliates have expressed interest in replicating the formula in neighborhoods across the country.
“This is part of a much larger picture, and a lot of that picture is being drawn by our young people,” explained Michael Bruno, dean of Science and Engineering at Stevens Institute. “We’re going to change the world one step at a time.”
Solar Decathlon 2011 will take place Sept. 23 through Oct. 2, 2011, at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C.
Erin Pierce is an energy technology program specialist for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
