Above: The Solar Decathlon village takes shape on the seventh day of construction. The houses open to the public on October 3, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy
Note: I’ve been to two Solar Decathlon’s held on the mall in Washington, DC. It is always an inspiring event. Teams of students compete to build solar homes. It is always great to see what would be possible if the United States put its resources to this type of innovation rather than to war, militarism and the intelligence-security state, while subsidizing carbon and nuclear energy sources. The potential to transform to a carbon-free, nuclear-free energy economy is evident in these competitions.
This is DALE from SciCal2013 on Vimeo.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your photovoltaics! When the green flag drops Sept. 23 on the Solar Decathlon competition, 20 teams consisting of students from 30 schools around the world will race to build the most energy-efficient, water-wise, affordable and design-savvy house possible.
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Energy contest will be staged away from Washington, D.C., at the Great Park in Irvine. As the teams prepare their houses for the public opening Oct. 3, we present a quick sampling of the entries here. We’ll post more detailed reports, student dispatches and judging results from the Great Park during the entire run of the event, which closes Oct. 13.
MORE:
Designing bright ideas: Solar Decathlon 2013
Official Solar Decathlon 2013 website
Czech Technical University
AIR HOUSE
Think of it as a house within a house: The team partially wrapped the module containing indoor living space in a second skin, a wood screen that creates a play of light and shadow not only in the house but also on a deck (opposite side of what you see here). A gray-water system purports to recycle up to 26% of household water.
Southern California Institute of Architecture and Caltech
DALE, Dynamic Augmented Living Environment
Leave it to the combined SCI-Arc and Caltech team to dream up what appears to be the most ambitious entry: Modular rooms can slide on tracks, literally opening up the house in good weather or buttoning it down when it’s too hot or rainy. Solar panels on top of the modules also are on tracks, allowing them to be moved and repositioned for maximum effectiveness. Watch the team’s video (link below) and you can’t help but smile.
DALE website
VIDEO: See the house
MORE:
SCI-Arc/Caltech Solar Decathlon house on the move, down the 405
Stanford
START HOME
Several teams this year are championing the idea of a central core – a hub for electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems around which living spaces could be built. Stanford has been savvy enough to wrap a modern kitchen and bathroom into the package and sell the concept as the heart of a part-prefab house, a factory-built core that could be shipped to home sites to help builders speed construction.
University of Louisville, Ball State University and the University of Kentucky
PHOENIX HOUSE
This combined entry from schools in Kentucky and Indiana rises not from ashes but from dust: The team used a devastating tornado near Louisville as the basis for developing post-disaster housing in twister country. Prefabricated components assemble quickly, and a bathroom was designed as a safe room with steel door and purposely small laminated glass window.
University of Calgary
BOREALIS
Team members have proposed their Solar Decathlon entry as a potential solution to population growth in the Canadian province of Alberta. The three living modules here could be constructed in factories and then transported for quick assembly in Alberta’s outlying communities. The net-zero-energy design includes daylight sensors throughout the interior, so lights automatically dim and brighten, and a climate control system that divides the house into five zones, all controlled by smartphone.
Vienna University of Technology
LISI, Living Inspired by Sustainable Innovation
The Austrian entry is conceived as a glass-sided box that maximizes views and light. Automated awnings can extend to give outdoor living spaces some cover from the sun, and a textile screen partially wraps the house’s decks, delivering privacy without impeding the flow of fresh air. The house also carries a message about reducing wood-processing waste: Bark appears as an interior wall covering, and compressed wood chips form counter stools.
University of Nevada Las Vegas
DESERTSOL
Two permanent structures built on mobile chassis are a nod to the team’s home surroundings. Partially wrapped in weathered wood, the house is shaded by rusted steel screens, some of which move for better protection in summer. Perforations in the steel emulate the pattern of dappled light from a mesquite tree.
USC
FLUXHOME
Intended to represent the suburban tract house reimagined, the 960-square-foot fluxHome has been wrapped in an exterior rain screen to regulate air flow and heat gain. Porches, verandas and skylighting give residents more connections to the outdoors, while folding and sliding doors would allow for more privacy in a city setting.