This past Saturday, after a week and a half of operating our home, Self-Reliance, and being evaluated in the 10 decathlon contests, Team Middlebury College was awarded fourth place in the Solar Decathlon competition. In addition to winning fourth place overall, our student-led team took first place in three of the 10 decathlon contests: Communications, Home Entertainment and Market Appeal. Team Middlebury College also placed fourth in the Architecture contest and five in Affordability, gaining the most juried contest points of any team.
Team Middlebury College was the first undergraduate liberal arts team to be accepted as a finalist into the Solar Decathlon competition without partnering with another institution. We are extremely proud that we performed as a top contender amongst teams from technical architecture and engineering institutions. We dreamed of finishing in the top five overall and being the little engine that could. We did it!
In our original schematic design proposal, we described our vision of reinventing the New England farmhouse, a long-standing American symbol of home. With no idea of how we'd fare against other submissions, and an added application phase due to a surplus of proposals, we eagerly awaited a response from the DOE. On April 6, 2010, the announcement came. We were in! Enthusiastic screaming ensued… until a student stood up and said "Let's get to work!"
Over the past year and half leading up to this year’s Solar Decathlon, we put ourselves to work. Long hours and hard decisions became even more tedious as our team continued to grow. Over 85 students from more than 25 different majors played an active role in the project. We drew on chemistry majors to do our materials research and English majors to write our fundraising materials, turning our perceived limitation as a liberal arts school into our greatest strength. Our interdisciplinary background encouraged us to take a unique approach towards the engineering challenge of creating a 100% net-zero energy home by incorporating our appreciation for the humanities into an integrated design process.
We crafted our design around our target client: a young New England family of four. With a maximum of 1,000 square feet of finished floor space to work with, and the goal of having a separate children's bedroom, we allocated space efficiently. We maximized space with our southern-facing gable roof and added a loft as a storage and multipurpose area. We integrated a greenhouse-wall into the kitchen, allowing family members to grow their own produce from seed to plate. To reduce embodied energy, we incorporated local natural materials that are healthy for both the inhabitants and the surrounding environment. We employed passive techniques and simple active systems, with a user-friendly interface for parents and kids to observe their energy usage. Demonstrating that solar-powered homes can be comfortable and appealing for families was one of our team's top priorities at the 2011 Solar Decathlon.
Selecting our solar panels was a big decision. We chose to partner with SunPower, an company that shares our commitment to renewable energy and environmental stewardship. SunPower was able to provide the highest solar panel efficiency for our project, generating more than 6.75 kW on a sunny day. Instead of consuming electricity generated from coal, natural gas, nuclear material or other non-renewable sources, Self-Reliance meets its energy needs with solar power – a clean, green technology that is available to home and business owners across the world.
Team members installed our all black SunPower E18/225 solar panels during the construction of Self-Reliance this past summer in Middlebury, Vermont, then disassembled and reassembled the system for the competition in West Potomac Park on the National Mall and are currently disassembling the solar array for shipment back to Vermont.
In our original schematic design proposal, we described our vision of reinventing the New England farmhouse, a long-standing American symbol of home. With no idea of how we'd fare against other submissions, and an added application phase due to a surplus of proposals, we eagerly awaited a response from the DOE. On April 6, 2010, the announcement came. We were in! Enthusiastic screaming ensued… until a student stood up and said "Let's get to work!"
Over the past year and half leading up to this year’s Solar Decathlon, we put ourselves to work. Long hours and hard decisions became even more tedious as our team continued to grow. Over 85 students from more than 25 different majors played an active role in the project. We drew on chemistry majors to do our materials research and English majors to write our fundraising materials, turning our perceived limitation as a liberal arts school into our greatest strength. Our interdisciplinary background encouraged us to take a unique approach towards the engineering challenge of creating a 100% net-zero energy home by incorporating our appreciation for the humanities into an integrated design process.
We crafted our design around our target client: a young New England family of four. With a maximum of 1,000 square feet of finished floor space to work with, and the goal of having a separate children's bedroom, we allocated space efficiently. We maximized space with our southern-facing gable roof and added a loft as a storage and multipurpose area. We integrated a greenhouse-wall into the kitchen, allowing family members to grow their own produce from seed to plate. To reduce embodied energy, we incorporated local natural materials that are healthy for both the inhabitants and the surrounding environment. We employed passive techniques and simple active systems, with a user-friendly interface for parents and kids to observe their energy usage. Demonstrating that solar-powered homes can be comfortable and appealing for families was one of our team's top priorities at the 2011 Solar Decathlon.
Selecting our solar panels was a big decision. We chose to partner with SunPower, an company that shares our commitment to renewable energy and environmental stewardship. SunPower was able to provide the highest solar panel efficiency for our project, generating more than 6.75 kW on a sunny day. Instead of consuming electricity generated from coal, natural gas, nuclear material or other non-renewable sources, Self-Reliance meets its energy needs with solar power – a clean, green technology that is available to home and business owners across the world.
Team members installed our all black SunPower E18/225 solar panels during the construction of Self-Reliance this past summer in Middlebury, Vermont, then disassembled and reassembled the system for the competition in West Potomac Park on the National Mall and are currently disassembling the solar array for shipment back to Vermont.
This coming weekend, after the six-day disassembly process is complete, we will truck the eight modules of Self-Reliance back to the Middlebury College campus for final siting. Boreholes have already been drilled for a geothermal system and the permanent foundation is currently under construction.
Middlebury College will use the house for special interest housing, where students will apply to live on a per semester basis. Our home will serve as an environmental outreach center for dinners, speakers and educational events open to both the campus and the local community. It was incredible sharing our home with over 15,000 visitors on the National Mall. Now it's time to bring the house home, where it will continue to be an educational tool that demonstrates the livability and affordability of solar-powered homes.
You can learn more about our team and Self-Reliance on our blog.
Katie Romanov
Communications Coordinator, Team Middlebury College Self-RELIANCE
Middlebury, VT, United States
Communications Coordinator, Team Middlebury College Self-RELIANCE
Middlebury, VT, United States
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