Students Asked to Create Solar House Designs
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 27, 2008) − As one of 20 university-led teams around the
globe competing in the United States Department of
Energy 2009 Solar Decathlon competition, the University of Kentucky's Blues Team will
launch a student design competition from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, in the Pence Hall
Gallery Space. The Design Competition seeks a house design integrating solar power that can be
developed, fabricated, and tested over the next year and a half for entry into the
decathlon.
The five-week open student design competition is a search for a unified design that can directly improve the lives of Kentuckians through the house's integration of solar power. Students interested in participating in the design competition should register by March 21, 2008, via e-mail at solarhouse@uky.edu. The competition will award up to $2,000 in prize money for winning designs selected by the jury.
Upon registration, entrants will be given a competition registration number and a competition packet meant to guide the registrant through the event. Students entering the design competition can come from any campus major; individual or group entries are welcome. Registrants will then be asked to submit their designs anonymously using their registration numbers. Submissions will need to include presentation boards for the designs and can also include conceptual models. Entries must be submitted by noon Monday, March 31.
Allied to this design competition, the UK SMART BLUES team will conduct workshops and information sessions geared at educating the UK community and the designers in the advantages of sustainable design, BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaics) and other issues. Participants will be notified of these topical sessions and workshops as they are scheduled, as well as dates and locations of the sessions.
In preparation for the design contest, the UK Blues Team launched the “Open Ideas Competition: What about Blue is Green?” earlier this month on campus. The team received more than 100 ideas through the contest. The concepts are currently on exhibit in Pence Hall's first floor gallery space and are open for viewing through March 7. The ideas on display represent a range of solutions and potential directions for the design competition and can be used as a resource for the student design teams competing in the second contest.
A biennial event, the Solar Decathlon brings together 20 university teams in a competition to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Over the next 18 months, UK's team will develop its Simple, Modular, Affordable, Renewable, Transportable, Building, combining Living, Understanding, Energy-efficiency and Sustainability or SMART BLUES House. UK's final design will ultimately be designed, fabricated, constructed, and tested in preparation for evaluation and public display at the Solar Decathlon's solar village presented in early fall of 2009 on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C.
For more information on the student design competition and the UK SMART BLUES House Project, refer to the team Web site or e-mail the UK team's three principal investigators Hilary Bryon, Don Colliver and Gregory Luhan. Individuals with questions regarding the competition should note in the e-mail subject line that the communication is in reference to a design competition question.
The five-week open student design competition is a search for a unified design that can directly improve the lives of Kentuckians through the house's integration of solar power. Students interested in participating in the design competition should register by March 21, 2008, via e-mail at solarhouse@uky.edu. The competition will award up to $2,000 in prize money for winning designs selected by the jury.
Upon registration, entrants will be given a competition registration number and a competition packet meant to guide the registrant through the event. Students entering the design competition can come from any campus major; individual or group entries are welcome. Registrants will then be asked to submit their designs anonymously using their registration numbers. Submissions will need to include presentation boards for the designs and can also include conceptual models. Entries must be submitted by noon Monday, March 31.
Allied to this design competition, the UK SMART BLUES team will conduct workshops and information sessions geared at educating the UK community and the designers in the advantages of sustainable design, BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaics) and other issues. Participants will be notified of these topical sessions and workshops as they are scheduled, as well as dates and locations of the sessions.
In preparation for the design contest, the UK Blues Team launched the “Open Ideas Competition: What about Blue is Green?” earlier this month on campus. The team received more than 100 ideas through the contest. The concepts are currently on exhibit in Pence Hall's first floor gallery space and are open for viewing through March 7. The ideas on display represent a range of solutions and potential directions for the design competition and can be used as a resource for the student design teams competing in the second contest.
A biennial event, the Solar Decathlon brings together 20 university teams in a competition to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Over the next 18 months, UK's team will develop its Simple, Modular, Affordable, Renewable, Transportable, Building, combining Living, Understanding, Energy-efficiency and Sustainability or SMART BLUES House. UK's final design will ultimately be designed, fabricated, constructed, and tested in preparation for evaluation and public display at the Solar Decathlon's solar village presented in early fall of 2009 on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C.
For more information on the student design competition and the UK SMART BLUES House Project, refer to the team Web site or e-mail the UK team's three principal investigators Hilary Bryon, Don Colliver and Gregory Luhan. Individuals with questions regarding the competition should note in the e-mail subject line that the communication is in reference to a design competition question.