SOLAR TODAY - January/February 2012

solar decathlon review

STEFANO PALTERA/U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGy SOLAR DECATh LON

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, left, speaks with members of the SCI-Arc/Caltech team, Andrew Gong, second from left, and Elisabeth Neigert, right, as he tours their entry in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011.

Calling All Solar Decathletes Alumni association seeks to advance the Decathlon and industry.

By David G. Schieren

The Solar Decathlon Alumni Associa- tion (SDAA) congratulates all 2011 Solar Decathlon competitors for an impressive performance, upholding the competition’s high standard of excellence.

Established in 2007, the SDAA recently launched a new website with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). We invite all students and faculty from past competitions to sign up. Industry partners and sponsors are welcome to join under a special membership class. Soon we will reach out to Solar Decathlon Europe and Solar Decathlon China as well.

The mission of the SDAA is to provide a forum for Decathlon alumni to build relationships, expand our knowledge base, support the Solar Decathlon and advocate for renewable energy.

Emile Chin-Dickey (Cornell−2005),
Cristina Zancani-Schieren (Rhode Island
School of Design−2005), James Bickford
(Santa Clara−2007), Matt Beck (Team
Alberta−2009) and I, with others, have
been working to build the association
since the 2007 competition. American
Solar Energy Society board member Jeff
Lyng (University of Colorado−2005) and
others from ASES have also been vital
to our growth, amongst other things
hosting meetings at the ASES National
Solar Conference. In addition to becom-
ing friends (and, yes, Cristina is my wife),
we’ve benefited professionally from
working together. We have already had
an impact on the competition, as well.
For example, Cristina helped influence
her architecture firm, Perkins + Will, to
sponsor the past two competitions.

The list goes on. The New York City-area team from Parsons The New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology designed a house for a low-income family in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign designed a disaster-relief home. The Belgians from Ghent University designed a do-it-yourself house that can be built by seven people with no machines. The Appalachian State University team designed a beautiful homestead to respectfully honor their North Carolina heritage. New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) designed a delightful vacation home. Florida International University designed a hurricane-resistant house. Each team had a different story to tell.

Most excitingly, every story had a similar message — that energy-efficient solar living is an affordable fit for all.

DavidG.Sc hieren (dschieren@empowerces. com) is chief executive officer at EmPower Solar and an alumnus of the 2005 New York Institute of Technology/U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Solar Decathlon team.