The cedar-sided solar-powered cottage behind the Chicago Center for Green Technology near Humboldt Park not only has a dandy view of the Sears Tower, but it also offers a glimpse of alternative energy for housing.
The small but appealing “elementhouse,” designed and built by architecture, engineering and design students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was the school’s first entry in the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The biannual event, held in October on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., challenged teams from colleges and universities to design the most energy-efficient, solar-powered homes that operate off the electrical grid. The entries, assembled like a small village within view of the Capitol, were open to the public.
Though solar energy provides only a tiny part of the nation’s power, the contest is part of the government’s push to promote the sun as a cost-competitive alternative by 2015.
One sign of the growing public awareness in energy sources other than fossil fuels was the estimated 120,000 people who toured the homes in this decathlon, about 20 percent more than in 2005.
The 2007 competition attracted 20 schools ranging from Santa Clara (Calif.) University to the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. After the competition, Illinois’ 576-square-foot modular entry was disassembled and shipped on three trucks to the Chicago Center for Green Technology, 445 N. Sacramento Ave., where members of the U. of I. team reassembled it for Greenbuild 2007, a conference sponsored by the United States Green Building Council held earlier this month.
The cottage will remain open to the public in Chicago until late March, when it will be taken back to Urbana.
“A goal of the team was to bring out a house people could relate to,” said Ben Barnes, a U. of I. mechanical engineering graduate student on the design/build team. “In Washington, people told us ‘This looks like a house. It doesn’t look like a spaceship.’ We wanted something people could build tomorrow.”
Though Illinois finished in the middle of the pack — 9th place — in the decathlon judging, the compact residence won two of 10 categories — market viability and comfort zone.
In the viability test, it had to show market appeal, be suitable for everyday living and easily accommodate a variety of owners.
In the comfort category, the house was noted for how well it kept air temperature consistently at 72 to 76 degrees with an equally comfortable relative humidity.
The first-place German entry won with a high-tech design that glowed at night and pushed the envelope on innovation, according to the judges. The Illinois entry focused as much on practical considerations as innovation.
“This is about the affordability of a solar home for everyone. It’s the Volkswagen of homes,” said U. of I. student Bob Kinsey (the name as published has been corrected in this text).
“We wanted to have a really flexible market,” said Barnes. The design “is very deployable” and can work as a home for two people or a field office or temporary housing for disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, he said.
Using as many mass-produced or readily available materials and components as possible kept costs down. The team, led by architecture grad student Nora Wang, designed a structure comprising three 12-by-16-foot modules built in a warehouse and assembled on site. Modules can be added or removed according to need.
Unlike many modular houses, however, the U. of I. design does not require a crane to put it in place. The modules are designed with a box beam and rollers system so workers can roll them off delivery trucks and onto the foundation — anywhere.
One other innovation is the radiant heating and cooling system, which unlike more conventionally placed under-floor systems, is delivered through refrigerator coils hung from the ceiling around the perimeter of the rooms. It is powered by an array of 40 solar panels.
Inside, design students used bamboo flooring and cabinets, a Corian counter reclaimed from the trash when an owner upgraded to granite, as well as dimmable fluorescent lights and LED bulbs.
The team had problems with its heat-pump water system, costing it points. The flip-up overhangs shading windows and doors opening to the south-facing deck won an innovation prize from BP for using photovoltaic (solar) panels to capture the sun’s power and provide shade. The overhangs were designed to be moved by a motor but, because the team ran out of time, the overhangs must be adjusted manually.
The estimated cost of the cottage, without furniture, is about $160,000 — $60,000 for the solar panels, Barnes said. The two-year project cost more than $500,000, including some stipends and a lot of hands-on experience for the 200 students — from engineers to communications majors.
For a tour, call the Chicago Center for Green Technology at 312-746-9642.
To see a photo gallery of all the 2007 Solar Decathlon entries, go to www.solardecathlon.org.
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The Solar Decathlon
What it is:
A competition that drew 20 college and university teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.
The U. of I. team got 1st-place finishes in two categories:
* Market viability
This contest evaluates whether the house has market appeal and is well suited for everyday living — and if it could be built easily and accommodate a variety of potential homeowners.
* Comfort zone
This category earned points for teams with houses that remained at a uniform, comfortable temperature and humidity throughout.
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IN THE WEB EDITION: To see a video and more photos of elementhouse, go to chicago tribune.com/solarhouse
