Under mostly cloudy skies and occasional light rain, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon teams continue assembling their houses around the clock to finish the assembly phase of the competition, which for most (and hopefully all) teams will end Tuesday.

New Zealand celebrates a team member’s birthday and says goodbye to its Canadian team crew from Fenshawe College in Ontario. (Credit: Richard King/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Today, I attended a party that New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) held for a team member’s birthday and to say goodbye to their Canadian friends who came from Ontario to help them. The Canadians—from Fanshawe College—are contemplating applying for Solar Decathlon 2013, so the New Zealand team suggested they join them as team crew. Fanshawe sent a few staff and students for assembly and disassembly, and some of them will stay in Washington for the entire event.

In other news:

• Team Massachusetts (Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell) arrived on Thursday three days late but assembled its main structure in only six hours.
• Team New Jersey (Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology) finished installing its solar array today.
• Maryland was the first team to qualify for electricity meter installation (which happened yesterday) and as of this morning led the other teams in the number of inspections passed.

In addition, the Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology took my camera up in their cherry picker for some way-cool aerial views of the village.

Aerial view of the solar village, with the roof of the SCI-Arc/Caltech house in the foreground, Team Massachusetts in foreground to the left, and Team New York (The City College of New York ) to the right. Maryland is between and just behind them. (Credit: Richard King/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Tomorrow will be more assembly—which will include the installation of lots of village infrastructure (tents, signage, and portable walkways for visitors)—and, no doubt, more firsts and finishes by this stellar group of teams.

Stay tuned!

Richard King is director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

Construction of the solar village on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park continued today, as student teams worked throughout the day and night to assemble their competition houses for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011.

While always a top priority at the Solar Decathlon, safety is particularly important during this seven-day construction phase. At today’s daily team meeting, Lee Ann Underwood, Solar Decathlon safety officer, praised the following teams for their excellent safety practices:

• New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington)
• Tidewater Virginia (Old Dominion University and Hampton University)
• Canada (University of Calgary)
• Parsons NS Stevens (Parsons The New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology)
• The University of Tennessee.

As of this meeting, 12 of the 19 team houses had passed their foundation inspections, with the University of Tennessee and Team China (Tongji University) leading in the number of building inspections passed.

Unfortunately, only part of Team Massachusetts’ house has arrived. The team members expect the rest of the house to arrive tomorrow.

A member of Team Massachusetts demonstrates good humor while standing in the empty lot where her team house will be assembled. (Credit: Carol Anna/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

The truck carrying the foundation footings for Florida International University finally arrived, and the team was busy today setting the foundations.

Michele Markovits, project engineer for Florida International, couldn’t say enough good things about neighboring teams, whose generosity included Parsons NS Stevens, who helped by buying gas for their generator; Tennessee, who helped charge a battery and accepted safety glasses in return; and Appalachian State, whose loan of surveying equipment helped the team set its foundation footings.

Michele Markovits, project engineer for Florida International University, and other team members work on the foundation footings for their house. (Credit: Carol Anna/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

“Our fellow teams have been so generous, They’ve shown truly great sportsmanship,” Michelle said. “It’s important to all of us that we make it to the finish line.”

Carol Anna is the communications manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

Since the first trucks rolled onto the National Mall’s West Potomac Park late last night, the site of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 has become alive with activity. Surrounded by trucks and cranes, decathletes in full construction safety gear have wasted no time beginning assembly of their houses.

“The student teams are really pumped up. I’ve never seen teams so excited,” said Richard King, Solar Decathlon director.

Last week’s torrential rains made accessing the site difficult for many of the big rigs carrying houses. But the site is now drying out, and managing the flow of vehicles has become much easier.

But for three teams, the challenge to deliver their houses is not over yet.

Team Florida (The University of South Florida, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida) experienced delays with its FleX House being held up at the North Carolina border.

As of early afternoon, Florida International University still waited for the truck that carried its foundation footings (the first step in its construction process) to arrive, which held up several of the team’s other trucks.

Team Massachusetts (Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell) has been the hardest hit. Having experienced delays of its trucks along the road, this is the only team not yet onsite.

Florida International University team members relax in the shade while waiting for their foundation footings to arrive. (Credit: Carol Anna/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Tom Meyers, Solar Decathlon building official, shared good news at the daily team meeting: Seven teams have passed their foundation inspections—with Purdue University being the first.

Carol Anna is the communications manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

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.