In the fall of 2005, RISD will be one of just 19 schools competing at the U.S. Department of Energy's second Solar Decathlon, a competition designed to raise awareness of alternative energy sources and produce viable options for solar-powered housing.
With two schools coming from across international borders, the DOE hopes that the competition will raise both national and international awareness of alternative energy sources.
The goal of the competition is to design and build a self-sustaining, energy-efficient and aesthetically pleasing solar-powered home that provides inhabitants with electricity and running water and a well-designed, comfortable living space. In the fall of 2005, the full-size houses will be displayed on the lawn at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., but RISD SOLAR plans to begin construction of its house this spring on the banks of the Providence River.
Each participating team has approximately two years to plan, design and build its house. Before, during and after the 10-day competition in Washington, D.C., the public will be able to visit the houses and learn about the use of solar power. Judged in 10 different categories ranging from architecture to communications, designs must balance a variety of functional demands to win.
RISD's participation in the Solar Decathlon began with Adjunct Professor of Architecture Jonathan Knowles. In the summer of 2003, Knowles approached one of his students with the idea. Four days later, a few of his students sent a proposal to the Department of Energy. The team, which named itself RISD SOLAR, was chosen from approximately 30 applicants and is the only art school participating in the competition, as well as the only school without an engineering department.
Other faculty members working on the project include Wilbur Yoder, a co-head of the project with Knowles, and Peter Tagiuri, chair of the architecture department, who works to recruit students to RISD SOLAR and integrate the resources of all of RISD's departments. So far, a total of approximately 45 students have worked on the solar house. These include several Brown students, such as Marika Shioiri-Clark '05, who is currently enrolled in the architecture class affiliated with RISD SOLAR, "One to One." The RISD team has received outside help from engineers through local companies such as Entech.
After its initial proposal was accepted in summer 2003, the RISD team spent the fall semester and winter session drawing up three initial designs and researching solar panels. In spring 2004, the team selected a final design and submitted its plans to the DOE. Since construction was approved in September, RISD SOLAR has been building prototypes of the house's various components to test out the functionality of their designs and the effectiveness of different materials.
RISD SOLAR Spokesperson and Fundraising Committee Chair Cristina Zancani-Tabena RISD '05 expressed her team's strengths, writing in an e-mail, "We ... believe that the ultimate design success will be in interdisciplinary collaboration. RISD offers the great advantage of having all the disciplines of art and design, and integrating them could bring forth the assets of our institution."
The biggest problem for the team has been fundraising. The college has given RISD SOLAR a grant of $40,000, but the team needs to raise $400,000 in total for the project, Zancani-Tabena wrote.
"Fundraising has been our biggest hole," Knowles said. The team has received donations from corporations and private individuals and is also looking to receive assistance in the form of donated materials. RISD SOLAR recently entered a competition to win solar panels from energy super-giant BP.
Next semester, RISD SOLAR will begin construction of its house on the waterfront in Providence, not far from the architecture building. The house will be open to the public until graduation, and the team is hoping for plenty of local publicity so it can, as Knowles said, "promote what we're doing." Next fall, the module will be partially disassembled and transported to Washington, D.C.
During the three-week display period in the capital, approximately 100,000 visitors are expected to visit the solar houses, Knowles said. Real estate agents and developers are expected to be amongst them, scouting for models that might ultimately be mass-produced. Knowles said he would "like to sell (the house) to an enlightened developer," but that another option would be to keep the prototype as a working laboratory resource for RISD and Brown students.
There is "definitely" a future for solar power in the United States, Zancani-Tabena said. "I think people will consider it more and more. There's no pollution. It's natural. ... These (houses) are the first experiments in terms of making a great design for (solar) housing."
With rising demands, dropping costs and improved efficiency, solar power is already on the rise in the United States, Knowles pointed out, adding, "This is the next technology."
