[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 134 (Friday, October 11, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1817-E1818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE CU SOLAR DECATHLON TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 10, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments of a talented group of students from the University of 
Colorado who designed and built the winning entry at the Department of 
Energy's Solar Decathlon. I am submitting for the Record a recent 
article from the Daily Camera describing the team's achievement.
  The Solar Decathlon is a competition organized by the Department of 
Energy that gives college students an opportunity to demonstrate 
practical uses of solar power. This October, 14 university teams from 
around the country competed in the first-ever Solar Decathlon to build 
the most energy-efficient, solar-powered house. Each team was required 
to use solar energy to power the entire house, and was judged on how 
well its house was able to produce energy for heating, cooling, hot 
water, lighting, appliances, computers, and charging an electric car. 
The houses were also critiqued on their overall aesthetic design.
  The students from the University of Colorado designed a building that 
demonstrates how clean, renewable, solar energy can practically and 
efficiently power a home. They focused on making the design of the 
house attractive and affordable to show that homeowners don't have to 
compromise style and convenience to live in a sustainable and 
environmentally friendly way.
  These enterprising students from the University of Colorado had a 
challenge--to take advanced architectural and engineering concepts, put 
them together in a design, and build a house that could be a model of 
our energy future. These students met that challenge and met it better 
than any of the other teams. I'm proud of these students and I'm proud 
that the University of Colorado produced such a talented team. Most of 
all, I am proud to represent these young people who are working so hard 
to make our way of life a sustainable one.

            [lsqb]From the Daily Camera, Oct. 6, 2002[rsqb]

                 CU Wins Contest for Solar House Design


              Builders Triumph Over 13 Other College Teams

                            (By Ryan Alessi)

       Washington.--The bright sunny October morning proved an 
     appropriate backdrop Saturday for the 14 Solar Decathlon 
     teams to finish the last few tasks of the weeklong 
     competition.
       The 14 homes built on the National Mall by college teams 
     from around the country and Puerto Rico had been probed, 
     monitored, inspected and judged since last weekend. 
     Architects and U.S. Department of Energy officials rated the 
     teams in 10 categories ranging from the appearance of the 
     homes to how much energy they saved. And of course, 
     everything from the fridge to their electric buggy-mobiles 
     had to be powered by sunlight.
       By Saturday morning, the University of Colorado sat atop 
     the standings as the team to beat. Then, shortly after noon, 
     video cameras, photographers and a crowd began gathering 
     outside the CU team's house, leaving little doubt that they 
     had, in fact, won.
       At a brief ceremony, David Garman, assistant energy 
     secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, 
     presented a polished steel trophy to Michael Brandemuehl, the 
     CU team's adviser and professor of civil, environmental and 
     architectural engineering.
       The University of Virginia, which started the day in third 
     place, passed Auburn University for second place. ``We were 
     pretty confident,'' said Mike Renner, CU's engineering design 
     leader. ``All the other teams had pretty much decided they 
     were going for second.''
       The judges scored the CU house among the top five in all 
     the design-based categories. And the engineering spoke for 
     itself as the team received the best marks in the competition 
     for the amount of electricity it generated and how 
     efficiently the home used the power.
       ``It's a well-oiled machine because of the team's all-
     around planning,'' said Sheila Hayter, one of the scoring 
     officials from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 
     Golden. She said the team's use of recycled materials also 
     boosted the team's scores. ``They put together a very 
     environmentally conscious house.'' That also caught the 
     attention of many of the estimated 75,000 visitors who have 
     streamed through the solar village.
       ``I loved their efficient use of space and their overall 
     design,'' said Elizabeth Ridgeway, visiting Washington from 
     North Hollywood, Calif. She voted for CU's house in a 
     separate People's Choice competition whose winner will be 
     announced today. ``And they used a lot of interesting 
     materials,'' said Bill Lyon, also from Los Angeles. ``I 
     really liked to see so many students focusing on the 
     environment.''
       After the Energy Department declared CU the winner, other 
     onlookers couldn't wait to see the house, so a group rushed 
     up to the porch and into the foyer before team members could 
     stop them.
       ``Geez, they're practically breaking the doors down,'' 
     Renner said. ``Good thing we don't have any goal posts.''
       Team members said that type of public response has been the 
     real trophy that they

[[Page E1818]]

     can take away from the competition, especially because this 
     home was their second design. They opted to scrap their 
     original design in January and start over.
       The public response ``was satisfying for us as individuals 
     because the reason we changed our design was because we 
     didn't agree that it was the direction we should go,'' said 
     Adam Jackaway, a graduate student in charge of the home's 
     lighting and the passive solar design. ``And the direction we 
     should go is targeting the homeowners who are looking for 
     something right now that conforms to their aesthetic taste 
     and what they can afford and what is easy to operate.''
       Jackaway said he wants to challenge the Department of 
     Energy to hold this kind of a competition not only for 
     college students, but for home builders, car manufacturers 
     and energy companies, to see who can build the most self-
     sufficient neighborhoods, the most efficient vehicles and the 
     cleanest energy.
       The CU home--which cost about $200,000 for materials, 
     construction and transportation to Washington--will return to 
     campus for about a year. Then, team members say, they plan to 
     sell the 800-square-foot house to make up some of the costs.
       As for the competition, Richard King, the Solar Decathlon's 
     founder and director, said the Department of Energy will 
     begin focusing on the next decathlon for fall 2004.
       He said future teams probably will study how the CU team 
     wove engineering and architecture together to build a winning 
     design.
       Teams that didn't properly balance the two quickly fell 
     from the top five. The University of Maryland, a team of all 
     engineering students, built a plain, white, box-like house 
     that ``worked like a tank,'' King said. It scored high in 
     engineering but low in design.
       The Carnegie Mellon team of all design students had large 
     windows, open ventilation systems and tons of recycled 
     materials. ``It looks great, but they couldn't get it to 
     work,'' King said.
       ``So now the engineers will go back and say, `Hey, we need 
     to get some architects.' And the architects will go back and 
     say, `We need engineers,' '' he said. ``That's how it works 
     in real life.''
       The team from CU used everything from compressed sunflower 
     board to reclaimed bleacher seats for cabinet facing. Other 
     ``green'' materials used included soy adhesives in the 
     countertops and bamboo flooring.
       To help make the home more energy-efficient, the team 
     installed thermally insulated blinds and limited the highest 
     ceiling to 18 feet.
       About 100 students and faculty from engineering, 
     architecture and design programs at CU have worked on the 
     project for the past two years, said Matthew Henry, the 
     team's construction manager and design leader.
       Henry, 28, graduated from CU last spring with a degree in 
     environmental design, but he said the project meant so much 
     to him that he came back to help with the competition.
       ``The prize is going to be someone coming up and saying I 
     want to build a whole community of these types of houses, I 
     want to build better,'' he said.
       For more information on the CU team's project, visit 
     solar.colorado.edu.
       (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

       

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