Pay It Forward

Special Feature Article

Rick Fedrizzi

Rick Fedrizzi is a principal with the Global Environment & Technology Foundation, the Center for Energy & Climate Solutions and president of Green-Think Inc., an environmentally focused marketing and communications consulting firm providing services for the residential and commercial built environments. He also serves as president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, of which he also is founding chairman, and president of the World Green Building Council. Contact by e-mail.

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Home, Solar Home
By Rick Fedrizzi

Washington, D.C.’s National Mall was transformed into a veritable village during the first few weeks of October — a solar village. If you didn’t get to see it, you truly missed a remarkable experience. The Mall was the site of the 2005 Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. A competition 2 years in the making, the Solar Decathlon brought together students from 18 universities and colleges in the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, and Spain, who have designed houses powered completely with solar energy. Students spent the last 2 years learning about the latest advancements in solar energy and energy efficiency — and in some cases, creating cutting-edge uses of their own. Faculty developed special classes focused around the Solar Decathlon and implemented them into their school curricula. The culmination of efforts was the design and construction of each school’s unique, high-performance house, which was then transported from campus to the competition site. While most schools created structures that moved in multiple pieces, which were then reconstructed in Washington, D.C., the team from Virginia Tech this year chose a different tack. (A repeat participant, Virginia Tech was part of the first Solar Decathlon in 2002.) They developed a specially designed transport to move the house in its completed state, with a set of support trusses that folded up to protect the house and folded down on site to become supports for an outside deck. “We wanted to be able to transport our home to Washington intact so we could spend the 5 days in D.C. [prior to the start of judging] fine-tuning and testing it, rather than reconstructing the building,” said faculty advisor Joe Wheeler. The fine-tuning is where the competition gets tough. Like any decathlon, participants are judged in 10 categories:

Architecture.
Dwelling.
Documentation.
Communications.
Comfort zone.
Appliances.
Hot water.
Lighting.
Energy balance.
Getting around.

Not only are the houses meant to be solar powered, but they also must be truly livable spaces that would be attractive to potential homebuyers. Among some of the tests the students and the houses must undergo are cooking and serving meals for 4 days, cleaning dishes in a dishwasher, as well as operating a TV/video player for up to 6 hours and a computer for up to 8 hours for 5 days. A successful shower test, (for example, delivers 15 gallons of hot water in 10 minutes or less) is also required. Students also must generate enough energy to power an electric vehicle, which they then use during the course of the competition; points are awarded based on how many miles each team completes. In many cases, renewable and sustainable building materials were used, as well as roof gardens and rainwater reuse systems — all this on limited budgets with funds raised by the project teams! And that’s why I’m floored by this whole experience. Not only are we talking about pushing the envelope in many senses, but also we’re looking at practicality in the process. For example, in their project write-up, students from the first-time entrant Rhode Island School of Design said they expected to patent some of the house features they developed — or even the whole design. They also planned to use it for artist-in-residence housing before probably selling it. To look at all of the houses, read an online diary of participants’ experiences, view a product directory, and get the final scores and standings, log on to www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon/. You’ll be amazed at what you see.

RBc: Thanks for the words Rick!

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