Louisville – The scorching summertime rays bring mean sunburns, sweat and discomfort for many people.
For the 30 members of the University of Colorado’s Solar Decathlon team, however, the sun is not something to shun, it is something to harness and use.
The defending champion team of CU architecture and engineering students is building a solar-powered mobile home, their entry in the second-ever Solar Decathlon competition in Washington, D.C., slated for October.
The 750-square-foot, one-bedroom home, which is being built in a Home Depot parking lot, will produce more energy than it uses.
“You can think of our house as a compact car with a race-car engine,” said Jeff Lyng, a graduate engineering student and the team’s project manager. “It produces way more energy than it needs.”
Not only does the home run on solar energy, it will be built using few or no petroleum-based products. For example, the tabletops will be made out of soybeans and old newspapers, while the flooring is made of flaxseed.
Another feature is a patented, structural insulated panel system made from cellulose waste and foam insulation based on CU professor Julee Herdt’s work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I think it’s also very livable,” said Herdt, the team’s coach. “No one is going to say, ‘Oh my God what is that?’
“They’re going to say, ‘I think I’d like to pull up a chair and sit on the porch.”‘
For the CU team, much is at stake as the students attempt to defend the title they won in 2002 at the inaugural event.
Herdt said the team has had to keep many of the project’s details secret since the event has become very competitive. Currently, 18 teams are entered in the triennial competition, which is sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
“They had a wonderful house and I predict they’ll do very well,” said Richard King, the decathlon’s founder, who oversees photovoltaic research for the Energy Department. “But there are 17 other teams out there with talented members who want their title.”
While the desire to win is driving the team, so is the hands-on experience of designing and building the project. Many members of the 2002 Solar Decathlon team have gone on to land jobs at prestigious engineering and architecture firms, organizers say.
Mark Cruz, a senior architecture student who has already designed two houses, said the project bridges the gap between the two disciplines.
“Usually, architects and engineers don’t understand each other,” Cruz said. “But not here. We have no choice since we work side by side every day.”
Herdt said a core group of 10 students will work on the project throughout the summer until the modular home is shipped to Washington in mid-September.
Regardless of whether the team wins, Herdt said, team members will walk away from the experience knowing how to incorporate energy-efficient strategies into the homes of the future.
“I think in the future we won’t be describing these features as ‘green’ or ‘environmentally friendly,”‘ she said. “It will just be how we do things.”
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
