Solar Decathlon
Last week, while the DARPA Grand Challenge driverless car race captured most of the media focus (a 2 million dollar prize sure helps to attract attention), another equally challenging event was staged in Washington D.C. The National Mall played host to a solar village, a group of 18 solar powered homes constructed by the entrants in the 3rd annual U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon.
The University of Colorado won the competition, winning three out of ten categories. Teams of students designed each solar house, knowing from the outset that it must be powered entirely by the sun. Each team was then judged on several requirements including architecture, energy balance, communication of ideas, comfort zone, dwelling, documentation, appliances, hot water, lighting and getting around.
Among the 18 participants, there was one Canadian team -a combined effort from Concordia University and Université de Montréal. The team scored 14th out of 18 teams
The Team Web site describes the project as follows:
Smart House for a Cold Climate
"In chilly Montreal, the appearance of the sun in winter is a welcome sight for more than one reason. "We hope to use weather prediction and smart controls as much as possible to effectively control the home," says Mark Pasini, Canadian Decathlon team project manager.
The Canadian Solar Decathlon team, made up of building, electrical, civil, and mechanical engineering students from Concordia University and industrial and architectural design students from L'Université de Montréal, set out to design a high-tech house in which most of the technology is invisible, seamlessly integrated through a special home automation system. The automation system monitors the home's temperature and links to controls throughout the house.
To help with designing the automation system and other aspects of the house, team members designed their own software to simulate the thermal behavior of the house. The software combines all the unique components of the house, including the automated blinds and the thermal storage. Phase-change materials and a wall of water placed adjacent to window glass serve as thermal storage and perpetuate the house's invisible-technology design approach.
The solar panels are also intended to be an unobtrusive, if not nearly invisible, technological feature. "People may not even realize they are solar panels," says Pasini. Whereas some PV systems are almost a double roofing system, the Canadian team's PV panel is basically an energy-generating roofing material.
Tight walls, lots of thermal storage, and plenty of foam insulation are important ingredients in this home built for a harsh, northern climate. But the students also boldly designed their house with large windows on the south-facing facade. Of course, the windows are triple glazed for the cold climate.
In addition to the need to design for a colder climate than many of the other schools, the Canadians also have other unusual responsibilities. The first is getting their house through U.S. customs, which requires extensive documentation of the materials they bring to the competition in Washington, D.C. And, finally, the students are proud to represent a larger constituency than most teams. Says Robert Moussa, student and leader of the electrical/PV team, "We are the only team from Canada, and so we feel we are representing a whole nation."
Walter Derzko
Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "
To explore the impacts and opportunities of smart technologies in your industry - Contact Me
.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"
- old Japanese proverb
P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page.
Comments