University students work to build energy efficient house

Kate Szyszka   Daytime assignment editor  
June 17th, 2009 - 1:46 PM
June 18th, 2009 - 10:40 PM
Campus
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This summer University Engineering and Architectural students are putting their energy into creating an energy efficient solar home for the 2009 Solar Decathlon.

The University has participated in two of the four decathlon events. The purpose of the competition is to design and build a house reliant completely on solar energy.

“The goal in terms of the competition is obviously to win first place,” said Patrick Chapman, Principal Investigator for the team.

The University is creating their house, Gable Home, to meet Passive House standards.

“The standard requires that we could heat or cool the house for an entire year for about $75,” Chapman said.

The competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in partnership with its National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The house is currently on the south campus, close to Turner hall. A permanent location is yet to be determined.

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Structural Elements of House

The Solar Decathlon gets its name from 10 specific criteria, two of which are architecture and engineering. The Structural Materials used in the Solar Decathlon house offer intricate sustainable and renewable properties. The framing elements are made from a patented lamination process that offers a final material with great strength, stability, and rigidity.
"The framing elements are just 3/4" thick and spaced at approximately 2' - 0" on center. Thus the material is not only rapidly renewable, but also significantly reduces thermal bridging in walls sections" (http://www.solardecathlon.uiuc.edu/partners.html.)
These measures have been taken to ensure the house stays within the Passive House Institute guidelines. These products as well as window and door systems, and panel and veneers can be found at www.lamboo.us/ . Sustainable materials research is taking place at University of Illinois Champaign Campus- Annex 2 building.

lamboo (not verified)    8/24/2009 - 11:44 AM

Passive House Institute

Please follow-up with a mention that the Passive House Institute U.S (PHIUS) is based right in Urbana. It is a wonderful national resource right at your doorstep - that everyone should be aware of.
see www.passivehouse.us

kenl    6/18/2009 - 6:10 AM

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