High praise, indeed, from a member of the solar house team that took 3rd place in the 2005 Solar Decathlon. We won’t mention the name of the well-known school, but it’s fabeled location is "Far Above Cayuga’s Waters". Regardless, we think you’ll agree that soon-to-be Missouri S&T’s stunning interior design would impress any stylish interior decorator, even this writer’s lovely wife.

UMR’s Solar House Team has long held that the Solar Decathlon is more than just about building a solar powered house, but more about designing and building an amazing energy-efficient house that also just HAPPENS to get all it power from the sun. And especially an efficient, solar-powered house that people would actually want to LIVE in. Don’t believe us? How about UMR’s Solar Village, where our ’02 and ’05 house now serve as very popular student residences. Still don’t believe us? Why not visit the houses for yourself. We’d love to give you a tour.
Anyway, the previous Solar Decathlons had a very strong architectural perspective, and considering that most entries were designed more by architecture students than engineers UMR more than held its own, so much so that UMR’s 05 house was featured in Popular Mechanics magazine a few months later, and honored by the D-I-Y Cable channel as well. And we expect similar kudos for our really cool 07 house when the dust (er, judging) settles. Not bad for engineers, eh?
Stay tuned for more cool stuff from the nation’s capital.

Yesterday, we saw the close to the construction phase of the Decathlon. At this point they are not letting anyone drive onto the mall to deliver materials. Also no work is allowed to be performed while the house is open for tours or during the ‘impound time". According to an e-mail sent by Tom Meyers, the decathlon building inspector, only six teams have finished all inspections and two were practically finished. We were practically finished. The team did not meet the deadline because the transition strip between the laminate floor in the hallway and the tile floor in the bathroom had not yet been installed. Everything else checked out.
We had a late night at the site last night (what’s new?) making final preparations for the tours today. The furniture had to be arranged, The cabinets had to be stocked (for the meals we have to cook). Everything had to be cleaned and polished. Final checks had to be made on the plumbing and electrical systems. And any number of other things. As you saw from the earlier entry, CNBC video taped the house today. It has already aired once, and is schedule to air again at 1pm central.
We are trying to get some pictures up. You would not believe the camera issues that we have had this week. If there is anything else you would like to know about the house, the team or the competition, be sure to leave a comment here.

The following message came accross the Solar Decathlon listserve. If any of our alumni will be attending, please let us know by posting here.

SAVE THE DATE
Reunite with former teammates and competitors for a night of fun and networking. Open mic discussion about careers, thoughts on solar energy & sustainable design.
When: Friday, October 19th, 6:30 PM –
Celebrate the End of a Successful Decathlon
Where: Washington, DC
Details Forthcoming
Who: 2002, 2005, 2007 Decathletes
Students, Faculty, Staff, Sponsors, etc.
Solar Decathlon Alumni Association
David G. Schieren, NYIT/USMMA SD ‘05
Cristina Zancani, RISD SD ‘05
Catherine Stewart, UMD SD ‘03
Join Facebook Group: Solar Decathlon Alumni Association
If you are interested in helping establish and grow the SD Alumni Association please contact the group on Facebook.

I found this picture on the decathlon page. (Credit: David Hicks/Solar Decathlon)

Today was the last full day of construction for the house. The PV, battery and inverter system has been inspected and approved. All the light fixtures and fans are in. The Apricu solar hot water system was installed today. We had 100 degree water after only four hours.
Things that will be worked on tonight and tomorrow:
Finish painting
Trim on the curved header
Landscaping
Furniture will be delivered
UMR was the first team to have the decks setup and ready for the event deck walk way to be installed.
Last night there was a bit of rain in D.C. Good news for us! The house doesn’t leak! Luckily it has cooled off a bit since then.

Late night Picture of the UMR Solar House Team during setup.

UMR’s Solar House’s reconstruction on the National Mall is nearly complete. The girls and guys pretty much kept on schedule rebuilding the complex structure, with both modules quickly placed and assembled and the second story components lifted into place without incident. The weather has been great (if you don’t mind hot and humid), just perfect for those 12-14 hour days of heavy physical effort. On Sunday all heavy work and generator noise was banned to alow the public to wander around the huge competition site, so the team members concentrated on finishing the interior.

Worsksite safety on is paramount so Nicole Annis and Jacobe Colbert (above) install the last solar panels using safety harnesses loaned by Alberici Construction of St Louis, without fear of falling on students simultaneously finishing up the deck systems. The rest of the day was devoted to finishing up railings and rebuilding the main house entry, which is the keystone of the house’s design.

Luke Sudkamp kept busy with a circular saw, but didn’t have much time to take in the sights such as the US Capital in the distance. That will come later.

UMR’s solar house has been topped off with the addition of the upper walls and roof sections yesterday. Three 18-wheelers hauled the modern-style solar powered house the 1,000 miles to the nation’s capital. Two of the trucks unloaded Wednesday, and once the house modules were bolted together and secured the truck carrying the higher walls and roof panels pulled up to the site and the second-story components were carefully lifted into place.

The weather continues to be warm and dry, excellent for an intensive construction schedule, to say nothing of having a roofless house for a couple of days. UMR has a reputation for rapid solar house set-up. In both previous Solar Decathlons (’02 and ’05) the Miners were the first team to have their houses completed and certified for operation.