What is the Solar Decathlon?
An Energy Efficient House
The Solar Decathlon is a competition in which 20 teams of university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.
Solar-Powered, Student-Designed
Teams of students design an 800-square-foot house, knowing from the outset that it must be powered entirely by the sun. In a quest to stretch every last watt of electricity that's generated by the solar panels on their roofs, the students absorb the lesson that energy is a precious commodity. They strive to innovate, using high-tech materials and design elements in ingenious ways. Along the way, the students learn how to raise funds and communicate about team activities. They collect supplies and talk to contractors. They build their solar houses, learning as they go.
The Competition
The teams will transport their solar houses to the competition site on the National Mall and rebuild them in the fall of 2009. The teams will then compete in ten contests designed to assess each house’s strengths and weak-nesses in a variety of categories, such as architecture, engineering, and market viability. The public is invited to tour the solar homes and event exhibits during the competition.
Source: www.solardecathlon.org/about.html
Team Boston
A Mutually Beneficial Collaboration
The Boston Architectural College (BAC) and Tufts University have formed a consortium, combining resources and expertise to meet and exceed the Solar Decathlon project goals. The consortium uses the competition as an organizational catalyst to address issues of energy consumption as well as larger challenges of sustainability at local, regional, and international levels.
Tufts University
Tufts brings cutting edge research in engineering, biology and environmental policy-making to the project. Tufts faculty, staff and students understand the real challenges of reducing energy consumption through the efforts of the Office of Sustainability and the Division of Operations, and have substantial experience in engaging communities on many levels.
Boston Architectural College (BAC)
The BAC is the only architecture and design school in the United States with a concurrent practice curriculum, in which students practice design while studying. Bridging practice with research, BAC students significantly increase the cross-germination of ideas, assets, and practices in addressing the Solar Decathlon.
The Triple Bottom Line
Team Boston strives to balance the “Triple Bottom Line” of sustainability, taking into consideration economic factors, ecological impacts, and social equity issues associated with the house design. The team will balance environmental considerations with economic and social needs to develop a house that can be immediately reproduced for the average American.
Get Involved!
Tufts Students
There are many opportunities for students to get involved in engineering, design and policy research, marketing, and more. Students can participate both curricularly and extracurricularly, through independent research, senior design projects, and design team collaboration. Send us an email to learn more and find out how you can get involved: matthew.thoms [at] tufts.edu or benjamin.steinberg [at] tufts.edu
Tufts Faculty
Faculty members at Tufts can get involved in the project in a number of ways, such as supervising independent studies and senior design projects that relate to the Decathlon. If you would like to contribute or to offer expertise in your field, please contact Antje Danielson, Program Manager at the Tufts Institute of the Environment: antje.danielson [at] tufts.edu
General Interest
Please visit our website for information on the project and ways to get involved: http://livecurio.us
Giving
If you are interested in making a donation to the project, please contact Antje Danielson, or visit Tufts' online donation page and specify the Solar Decathlon as the repient of your gift. Thank you!
