The results came back. The UMR Solar House finished in eleventh place, quite a bit lower than we had hoped, but still an amazing feat. In the end the team worked hard, had fun and helped save the world. As they say everyone wins with this type of project.
We have started talking about what our 2009 house will look like. Stay tuned to find out more!
The results are in
Market Viability is in
The results of market viability is in. UMR took 4th place. I guess the architects didn’t like the house, but the builders and real estate agents loved it!
Village closed today
Today the house was closed to the general public for competition purposes. Right now we are ahead on the amount of energy stored in our batteries from where we started on Monday. What does that mean? Good things. Tomorrow is supposed to be a cloudy day here, especially between 10-2pm, the best hours for collecting energy from the sun. We will continue to monitor the batteries. As competition continues teams will start to make strategic decisions on what should be done. Should we focus in on getting energy balance? Should we put the energy into the GEM and convert it to mileage for points? Should we compete in the lighting and appliance categories? Can we do everything? Tomorrow, I believe we may see a turning point of the competition.
The Solar Decathlon points battle on the National Mall continues to wage, but we are currently leading the Hot Water and Appliances portions of the event. We have yet to be judged on Energy Balance and the all-important (to us) Engineering, and the Comfort Zone, Lighting, and Getting Around events are judged throughout the week, so no points have yet been awarded in any of those categories. In the morning we will find out the results of the Market Viability Contest.
Thanks to all the friends of the UMR Solar House
We would like to thanks all those who graciously contributed to our "Support a Square Foot" program. All the people on this list contributed $100-$499 to the project. If you or your organization wish to Support a Square Foot, please contact us at sunhome@umr.edu or post here!
Friends of the UMR Solar House:
2 Smart Chix LLC
A-1 Moving & Storage
Adam V. Tiehes
Al Heinbokel
Anderson & Associates
Andrew, Connor, and Nathan Dickens
Anesha McKinney
ANS Student Section of UMR
Arby and Helen Moore
Arnold P. Harness
Ashlee Welton
Ashley and James Guise
Brad and Jana Miller
Carpenter’s Local No. 2298
Chris Kruger
Citadel Properties LLC
Constance and Jordan Heiman
Cynthia K. Hobart
Dan and Jane Sudkamp
Dave Bryant
David Bollinger & Family
David Cotter
Dickison
Donald Higginbotham
Doug and Karla Carroll
Dr. Stuart Baur
Eta Kappa Nu
Fred R. Bunch – Attorney at Law
Gilbert D. Smith, M.D., LLC
Heartland Security
Herbert and Thelma Annis
Jaeques P Fransaw
Jerry Bayless
Jim Compton
Joe & Lynda’s Tater Patch
Joe Schaefer
Joel Lamson
John and Dorcas Park
Keith Corzine
Keller’s Rental Place
Kent W Lynn
Kreisler Drug Store
Lindsay Foundation
Lisa Battern
Lucas Sales
Marietta Burton Hiatt
Mark and Jonna Krueger
Mary Adams
Mary Emke
Medhi Ferdowsi
Michael R. Haney
Milton J. Murry
MiMi’s Café
MSM UMR Alumni Association
Nancy and Sam McCaughey
Nick Bristow
Patricia V. Gelner
Paul Hirtz
Paul Langenfeld
Peckham & Wright Architects, Inc.
Prasenjit & Swarnali
Rob Stone
Robert & Syndia Tucker
Robert and Cheryl McKay
Russel G. Wick, Jr.
Ryan Thortan
Scandura Family BSEE ’84
Sharone K. Pamiam
Steve Schnurbusch
Tau Beta Pi
Timothy P. Myers & Company
UMR IEEE-Student Branch
Valerie Nottage
William A. Stolz
William and Elizabeth Schluemer
William C. Dale, DMD
WM Snodgrass
CNBC Video
Here is the link to the video CNBC aired about our solar house.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=557097761&play=1
The counter tops that they refer to in this video are made by PaperStone and the solar/domestic hot water system she showcases is made by Watt’s Radiant.
View image
And they’re off . . .
Yesterday at 10 am we saw the opening ceremony of the decathlon. Today, marked the first day of competition. Bright and early today, we had our first round of tours for the jury: Market Appeal, Architecture and Communications. All three tours went well. It was good to be the first team to host all three of these juries. We should start to see the results of these catagories starting sometime Monday morning. The next round of competition, that we will see, will be on Monday when they take Comfort Zone, Appliances, Hot Water, Lighting, and Energy Balance measurements. Also on Monday, we will start getting mileage credit for the electric GEM car for the Getting Around competition.
Our house is currently open to public tours all day. The house will be open 10-5 on weekends and 11-3 on weekdays. Wednesday the house will closed so they can measure the temperature of the house in a controlled environment. There are early reports that there are 20,000-30,000 people on the national mall today. Be sure to check us out if you are in the D.C. area we are lot 109.
As far as weather, it is partly cloudy, mid 60s. A great day for making electricity and giving tours!
WOW!This Is Not A Solar House, This Is A Solar HOME!!!
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.
Construction End – Competion Heats
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.
Catch UMR Solar House live on CNBC this morning and this afternoon
We will try to get my hands on a copy and post it here. Keep an eye out.
The following note is from Andrew Careaga, Director of Communications of UMR:
The UMR Solar House Team, one of 20 competing in the Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., will be featured live this morning on CNBC. The segment airs at 9:40 a.m. Central Time. CNBC is on channel 47 on Fidelity Cable Television.
Also, CNBC is scheduled to return to the UMR Solar House at 1 p.m. Central (2 p.m. Eastern) to broadcast live.
The UMR Solar House Team is one of 20 college and university teams competing in the Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The event began earlier this week and concludes on Oct. 20. This weekend, several UMR alumni will gather at the UMR Solar House for an event.
For more information about the UMR Solar House Team and the Solar Decathlon, here’s the news release: http://news.mst.edu/news/2007/solarhouse072607.html
Solar Decathlon Alumni Event
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.
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