MU students to build solar house

By Kyle Daly

Published Feb. 12, 2008

If you build it, it will come. That is, if you build an 800 square foot solar-powered house, the future will come sooner than you think.

In the fall of 2009, students from MU will be teaming up with students from Missouri University of Science and Technology to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon as the Show Me Solar team.

The Solar Decathlon is an international competition involving 20 teams made up of college and university students. The teams are required to design and build a house that relies exclusively on solar energy for power. The competition takes place in Washington, where the houses are built on the National Mall.

The 2009 competition will be MST’s fourth trip to the U.S. capital, and MU’s first. MU students participating in the competition are members of the Emerging Green Builders, a program set up by the U.S. Green Building Council that works to integrate students and young professionals into the green building movement.

Barbara Ann Buffaloe, an instructor in the Department of Architectural Studies, is a board member of the Emerging Green Builders Missouri Heartland Chapter.

Stuart Bower, a fellow board member and faculty adviser of MST’s Solar Decathlon team, came to Buffaloe for help, Buffaloe said.

“In the past, Rolla’s team has not done well with the architecture contest, but have done really well with engineering,” Buffaloe said. “So, he asked if our architecture students would be interested in helping out with the design.”

Last Saturday, students participating in the project traveled to Rolla to meet with the MST team and discuss possible design ideas.

Students from MST came up with the idea of making a modular house that could, if needed, be added on to as the years went by, Buffaloe said. They named the project “Unplugged-in.”

MU students contributed to the discussion as well, Buffaloe said. They were most interested in having as many green materials in the house as possible, Buffaloe said. This would include recycled materials as well as local, American-made materials.

“They’re also interested in helping out with more integration of the engineering and technology,” Buffaloe said. “So, rather than having a wall with all of the radiant floor heating systems just exposed, integrating it more into the design, so that it’s accessible, but not the first thing you see when you walk into the house.”

Building will take place in Rolla. MST has a “Solar Village” located by its campus where the houses of the past three competitions are displayed. These houses are rented to students and faculty members during the semester, but are also open to public viewing. An empty lot has already been created for the 2009 house.

Once construction on the house is finished, it will be disassembled, loaded onto a flatbed truck and shipped to Washington. Once there, the house will be reassembled on the National Mall.

For the competition, the teams will be judged on the various aspects of their design, such as architecture, lighting and appliances.

Fundraising for the project will begin this semester. Emerging Green Builders members will meet today to discuss possible fundraising events. Both universities plan on contacting construction firms and design firms to see if they can possibly receive donations of money, time or products, Buffaloe said.

“I am excited,” team member Renee Henry said. “Green is a big issue coming up in homes and buildings.”

Team member Anna Fleischer believes that working with the engineering students from MST will benefit the students from MU.

“I am looking forward to it as a learning opportunity for our team,” Fleischer said.