Santa Clara University (SCU) and California College of Arts (CCA) has started construction on a solar-powered house for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2009 Solar Decathlon. The Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the DOE, brings together 20 teams from colleges and universities around the world to design, build, and operate the most energy-efficient, attractive, and comfortable house, powered exclusively by the sun.
When the first shipment of lumber and steel arrived at SCU’s campus on March 22, 2009, the students went right to work, building the core of the 800 square-foot home. A beam of refracted light served as the inspiration for the 2009 home design. Some of the features of the new systems include photovoltaic array, high-efficiency inverters, and thermal efficiencies, all of which will help run a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, and cook a meal.
In October, 2009 the teams will transport their homes to the National Mall in Washington, creating a solar village.
On April 3, 2009 in the Multipurpose room at Bannan Engineering Laboratories at Santa Clara, SCU and CCA students will present their plans to the public. They’ll share the blueprints and show the green building materials and the state-of-the-art solar technology that minimize the environmental impact but maximize comfort and livability of the house.
Students will provide models, full-scale mock-ups, and give tours of the construction site and of SCU’s 2007 house that won third place. Students will also explain how they came up with the unique shape of the house and how they’re planning to bring the outdoors in.
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, SCU trustee and Applied Materials Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Splinter, SCU President Michael Engh, S.J., and SCU’s School of Engineering Dean Godfrey Mungal will be in attendance.
SCU is competing in the Solar Decathlon for a second time. The collaboration with CCA in San Francisco has created Team California. The partnership combines SCU’s strength in engineering and CCA’s expertise in architecture.
In the 2007 Solar Decathlon, Santa Clara placed third but would have won first place had it scored better in the architecture aspect of the competition. SCU still beat universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and two-time decathlon-winner University of Colorado, Boulder.