Rutgers Forecast: Sunny and Energy Efficient

A group of students from Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology will build a 1,000-square-foot house in July, only to see it torn down and hauled away in September. 

But there’s an energy-saving method to their apparent madness: The house is Team New Jersey’s entry into the prestigious 2011 Solar Decathlon, and its ultimate destination is between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials on the National Mall in Washington, where it will be reconstructed for public display.

Every two years since 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy has sponsored the international competition, challenging academic teams to devise projects to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and to move toward a clean-energy economy.  Ninety-two collegiate teams have participated since the event’s inception.

The collaboration between Rutgers and NJIT marks the first time the Garden State will be represented. Judging will take place beginning Sept. 23.

Dubbed “Enjoy! A Generation House,” the entry features an inverted roof to catch sunlight and rainwater, as well as exterior walls of precast

The solar electric and thermal technologies featured in the house are expected to produce enough or more than enough energy to power all standard appliances, to produce hot water, and to maintain a healthy indoor environment.

Clinton Andrews, professor of urban planning and director of the Rutgers Center for Green Building at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, is one of the faculty directors on the project. He says the solar home takes traditional building practices to a new level.

“For one thing, we’re using precast concrete, which is common in Europe and Japan, but it’s the first time precast concrete is being seen in the competition,” Andrews says. “Some of my colleagues have had experience with it, but mostly it’s important to show that it’s possible to build a house quite cheaply but still maintain its high quality.”

Actual assembly of the house is expected to begin July 11 in Newark, with a “topping off” ceremony two weeks later. Work will continue throughout the summer as students perform tests to ensure that all systems are working properly.

And then the walls will come tumbling down – intentionally – as the house is deconstructed in early September and loaded onto trucks for its trek to Washington. J. Supor and Sons of Kearny will provide the heavy lifting for this part of the process. The firm recently won attention for transporting the so-called Miracle on the Hudson plane from New Jersey to the South Carolina Aviation Museum.

Team New Jersey members hope to rebuild the house on the Mall within two days, readying it not only for the Decathlon judges, but also for the thousands of visitors expected to file by between Sept. 23 and  Oct. 2. More than 300,000 people toured the 2009 entries.

At stake in the competition: A trophy and unlimited bragging rights.

Melanie Davidson, a mechanical engineer working on a second baccalaureate degree at Rutgers’ School of Engineering, is the project’s student team leader at Rutgers. She is one of a dozen graduates and undergrads working full-time throughout the summer transform blueprints into reality.

“The idea behind the house is that if it is mass produced on a larger scale, it could represent a model of affordable, highly efficient homes in the future,” Davidson says.

She also stresses the collaborative nature of the Decathlon entry, noting that the New Jersey-based companies supplying the solar and concrete panels and overseeing the home’s fabrication are among many businesses donating materials and services for free.

The team is documenting its progress on Facebook,  http://www.facebook.com/ENJOYNewJersey, and was also featured in the official Decathlon blog, http://www.solardecathlon.gov/blog/archives/date/2011/04, in advance of Rutgers Day, where a computer-animated mock-up offered previews of the house.