Imagine a beautiful, comfortable home that can produce more energy than it consumes.
Now, imagine 17 of them and you'll have this year's Solar Decathlon, a collegiate competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy that challenges teams of students to design, build and operate solar-powered homes.
The Solar Decathlon was first held in 2002 and has been held biannually ever since. It is a unique training experience for the students who participate. The project also seeks to educate the public about current trends in energy conservation.
Each of the 17 team’s solar-powered homes must be a 100 percent solar-dependent, cost-effective, energy-efficient, attractive full-scale building.
The decathlon’s 10 judging categories include: architecture, market appeal, engineering, affordability and comfort, among others. Some of these categories are judged by metrics, while others such as aesthetic appeal are decided by a jury of experts.
The Department of Energy gives each team a $100,000 grant, which can be supplemented by other funds up to a maximum of $250,000.
The finished homes will be displayed in Irvine, California from October 8th to 18th for judging and public tours. These tours will show that living comfortably and efficiently in a solar-powered house is not just a thing of the future, showcasing energy-saving techniques that can be immediately applied at home.
The Competitors
Team STILE is the result of a partnership between West Virginia University (WVU) and Rome's University of Roma Tor Vergata (UTV). The multinational, multidisciplinary team of 60 students will compete with other teams to prove that comfortable, clean-energy living can be realized with today's technology.
Named for the building it's tasked with creating, “STILE” is an acronym for Sustainable Technology Integrated in a Learning Experience. The team is led by students from WVU's Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
The team's members hail from a wide variety of disciplines, with representatives from the College of Creative Arts, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design and Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.
Several other U.S. universities have partnered with schools in Germany, Singapore and Central America.
The 2015 competition is not Team STILE's first attempt at the Solar Decathlon. The WVU-UTV team also entered the 2013 competition. In their previous attempt, Team STILE used SIPs (structurally-insulated panels) for structure. While SIPs are efficient for creating modular walls for house construction, they are not meant to be deconstructed after the house is erected.
The Solar Decathlon's final judging takes place in California. This means that after the house was first built in West Virginia, it had to be deconstructed and transported across most of the continental United States before being reconstructed for the judges in California. The SIPs warped during deconstruction and transport, causing many wooden connection points to split.
Learning from past mistakes, Team STILE's new design uses steel and condenses the building into four modules to simplify construction.
The Home
Team STILE's new design takes inspiration from both Italian and down-home design. The house blends the rustic feeling of a West Virginia home with the exterior grandeur that Italy is known for. STILE is a simple, compact house covered by a Roman-inspired arch. The curve of the arch contrasts with the rigid boxed shape of the house, while its shading effect creates a natural patio.
The function of the arch goes far beyond aesthetic appeal. It creates a covered passage that guides visitors into the house, creates shade and supports the solar energy arrays. The arch is made of four steel beams that hold the photovoltaic cells.
STILE's floor plan emphasizes open spaces. A large living room is paired with sliding glass doors and a solar chimney for ventilation.
Team STILE's design team used Trimble's Tekla Structures, an advanced BIM software, to ensure that their final design would be constructible. With help from Tekla Campus, a free online academy for learning how to use Tekla Structures, the finalized model was submitted to the fabrication shop and used to produce the steel required in construction.
After the difficulty that Team STILE encountered with deconstruction and transport in the previous competition, they took special pains to make construction as simple as possible by simplifying their design into four prefabricated modules. One contained the bedroom, bathroom and mechanical room. The arch would be made on the ground and set in place by a crane. The other modules comprised the open living room and outer deck.
Team STILE is currently in its on-site construction phase in West Virginia, which began in late May and is expected to conclude in early September. After that, the home will be deconstructed and transported to California. The team will have nine days to reconstruct the house in Irvine for the final judging on Oct. 8, 2015.
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