Sep.16.2009
Solar House - Student Built - Rice University
The Zerow House
The Zerow House, built by students at Rice University in Houston, will compete against other solar homes in Washington D.C. in October as part of the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the U.S. Energy Department.
But unlike some of its competitors, which are integrating high-concept, high-price features like tricked-out home entertainment systems and moving solar arrays that track the sun, the Rice team’s aim is affordability.
A quest for low-emission energy sources and looming first-ever U.S. regulations on carbon dioxide emissions have sparked renewed interest in solar power, which until recent years has been in an extended infancy in the United States since it was invented in 1954 by Bell Labs.
“This competition is for showing the public that solar energy is here now and applicable to housing,” said Roque Sanchez, a Rice graduate student. “We’re taking a house that any family could live in and any family could afford and adding solar to it.”
In fact, Rice plans to donate the home to a low-income Houston family after the competition.
The house, about the size of a New York-style efficiency apartment, is a case study in frugality, and could easily be built in Houston for about $100,000, Sanchez said.
Its exterior has a no-nonsense, low-maintenance metal skin meant to bear up against the Gulf Coast region’s hurricane-force winds, and a lattice of vines hangs off the front to shield it from the brutal Texas sun. Inside, it sports off-the-shelf, affordable appliances and cabinetry from stores like Ikea and Home Depot.
Via: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE58F45520090916
Filed in Greeniest |
