Review of Results

I was hoping the student team would be writing the blog regularly, but the competition turned out to be grueling with them at the house from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. Having just returned from Washington DC, I thought I would reflect on the competition, our scoring and the overall project.

The last entry that anyone saw was the one from Karen below. I thought about asking her to edit it or to rewrite it once the emotion of the scoring dissipated but blogs are suppose to be reflections of moments and therefore, it should stand as that moment early in this week. Many things went wrong for the LTU team, but much went right. It was a wonderful (or it will be in a few weeks/months/years) experience for the students and I saw them grow enormously over the last two years. Considering many of the other teams were made up of graduate students and the average age of the winning Darmstadt team was reported to be 28 or 29, our undergraduates held their own. Most of them started this project while in their second or third year of undergrad BEFORE having many of the classes they needed to do the work. It was a crash course for them.

Here is our final standing out of 20 teams(read below for notes and explanations):
Architecture 17
Engineering 19
Market Viability 11
Communications 9
Comfort Zone 17
Appliances 11
Hot Water 20 (zero points)
Lighting 12
Energy Balance 16 (zero points)
Getting Around 10

I am happy with the scoring when you take out a couple of factors. So what is up with those zeros?? Well, the team never got the hot water system running. Steve Tominac, our mechanical engineering student, was completing the system when he found out his grandfather was very sick and was dying. We made an immediate decision that if he needed to go home to be with his family this was more important than the competition. He left before he could finish the hot water system. We didn't have anyone else who knew the system as we have been light on engineers on the team and therefore the system was never completed. This combined with the zero in energy balance guaranteed a low if not bottom finish. I am still happy that we chose a more important situation concerning family over a competition and do not regret sending Steve home.

We held our own in Communications (thanks Karen) and Market Viability (go Steve N), Appliances and Getting Around. Appliances and Getting Around would have been even higher except for a strategy that was attempted on Thursday last week. It was clear after two days of cloudy weather that the team was not going to have enough energy in the batteries to pass the Energy Balance test. The engineers on the team decided to shut the entire house down Thursday and not charge the car in an attempt to make the Energy Balance cut off. This would turn off the appliances and mean the car couldn't be driven the next day. The reasoning was that the first two competitions would be worth an extra 30 points for Friday but Energy Balance would be 100 points, so to lose the 30 would give a net gain of 70 points. It was sound thinking IF it worked. The team ended up not making the cut off for energy and lost both the 30 and 100 points for all three competitions on Friday. It could have been a smart gamble . . . but with all gambles, luck was involved. This was the final piece that ended the Solar Decathlon for Lawrence Tech.

Architecture came in low because the jury seemed to be looking for novelty and tie-in with technical systems. The team was very aware of their target audience of middle class and consciously chose not to make a modern glass box. In this case, it just went against them - this is just one of the subjective things you can't guess ahead. A different jury, a different outcome. Almost everyone who came through the house commented on how beautiful it was. And it was the only house who's space planning was so sophisticated that it had two bedrooms but the house felt large. No points were awarded for this, however. I understand why the team felt cheated by the subjective competitions but these are hard to second guess.

We didn't score very high in engineering again because the team chose to take the competition at its intentions and integrate everyday, off the shelf items that the middle class home owner would be likely to embrace. The lack of product innovation hurt the team here.

After it is all said and done, I am proud of the students who worked on the project and what they achieved as well as the commitment and trust of our sponsors who made this project possible. We at the university hope to turn the experience into something even more significant for Michigan and of course, Troy is excited to get their new solar powered public educational home next week.

Philip Plowright, Faculty Advisor, LTU Solar Decathlon 2007

I'll be frank...

Our spirit has been shattered.

Broken hearted, upset, confused, pissed off... we're all of it. How can it be that three people, that no one has ever heard of, are responsible for our fate, happiness, and score ranking?

If you can't tell, the past few days haven't been going as well as we had wanted. We're trying not to be sore losers, but the fact of the matter is that these "experts" were way off. Rumors are spreading that other teams are petitioning for another go at the architecture judging.

The competition rules stated that teams would be judged subjectively in architecture based on firmness, commodity, and delight. Based on these three areas, our team should have placed in the top five. Unfortunately, the contest was really about bells, whistles, gadgets, and other features that our team found to be impracticable and unnecessary. When the day was done, we were ranked 17th. 17th!! What the F*ck!!! ...it just doesn't make any sense.

On a lighter note, the competition is only part of the big picture. The public here loves our home and say that it's one of the few houses on the Mall that they could actually picture living in. Sure, we want to win, but what's really important here is that our home is marketable, livable, and realistic.

The home's final resting spot is in Troy, Michigan, where it will be open to the public. We invite everyone to come out and visit and see for yourself what we've done.

Thank you to all of you that have supported us and been proud. We're still working hard to do well in the other contests. We'll keep you posted here...

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Wow! What a long day. We had jury tours for three of the decathlon competitions; communications, architecture, and market viability. We kicked butt in all three!

Tomorrow at ten am we'll hear the results for the architecture tour. For the other two, we won't know until Thursday.

Below are a bunch of photos that Steve S. took today. Please enjoy and leave your comments about your favorite pics!!!!

It's Show Time!

Finally, an Internet connection! Sorry to keep you all waiting. What's new? Tons! Friday morning there was a Solar Decathlon opening ceremony. We got to hear the big shots talk and posed for a few photos.

Also on Friday, there was a giant photo of the ALOeTERRA home on a cover page article about the solar decathlon in The Washington Post.

Now, it's tour time & competition time. Our house is beautiful and we've decided not to be modest about it. Take a look for yourself....


It's been said that our home has the most "curb appeal" Check out the inside. Master bedroom & Kitcken/Living room....


I think it's MTV Cribs worthy. Your thoughts?

Wish us luck this week. We've got a lot of winning to do.

Steve T. Smiles Again

Yesterday was the first time I have seen Steve T. smile since graduation. The reason? A successful water delivery which filled our hot water tank and water supply tank to the brim! One step closer to that plumbing inspection!

Now that we have water, we need to mount those evacuated tubes to heat it. Ben throws some serious sparks while cutting the framing members.

Look at how well our home frames that off our neighbors...almost like we planned it. Yes, that planter is large enough to double as a cattle trough, but it will be mighty impressive when the landscaper does his magic tomorrow!

check one off the list.

Finally the courtyard door is done. It took an abnormally long period of time to get it up, but it was worth it. It may have been that we didn't realize sanding a 5'x8' sheet of acrylic could possibly be so time consuming, or it may be that none of the hardware came with instructions.

I think the house is actually coming out to be more impressive than we all anticipated. Not that we didn't appreciate it before, but it is funny that we all get a little too excited every time we accomplish something. Who knew the entire crew would sit and stare for ten minutes at Chris switching the dimmer on the fluorescent lights. Well, I guess that's not too much of a surprise.

The Weekend Update

Well, it's a hot one... Today is the hottest day we have had yet in D.C., and we are promised that it will cool down next week (here's hoping!). The team is in high spirits after a strong finish yesterday and a night off to celebrate. Today there is a special event on the Mall, so we are restricted to only light construction, and will be working on the interior until this evening when we can power up our generator again.

More pictures of our progress to follow, however here are two to close with:

Hard to believe that just this past March we were pouring our temporary foundations...

...And on Saturday, just 8 months later, here we are sharing a meal at what could only be described as a "unique" Mexican restaurant, while our house was standing on the National Mall. The most surreal dining experience to date...I don't know if it was the excitement of the previous 72 hours, or if it was the mexican soap operas, Bryan Adams music pumping through the juxebox and waitresses in hotpants and high heels (no, we still don't know why they were dressed like that), but everyone was in good spirits. It's hard not to smile after all we have accomplished.

Jody put it best today when she said, in reference to comments made by spectators on the Mall that our house is beautiful, "I tried to be humble, but I had to agree with them that it is."

Major construction is over

It took from midnight on the evening of Tuesday October 2nd to 6:30 pm on Saturday October 6th to get the majority of the house constructed. We are sitting in a great place right now, with the team able to focus for the next 5 days on refining the interiors and landscaping.

Here is the final deck module going down. We have been drawing quite the crowd with the house and the deck. And yes, it is very heavy.

Ay-oh, we finished! Yeah, we also waited to spring the trellis design on the rest of the competitors :) The house is looking solid, sleek and should be up to full power on Sunday. The evacuated tube array is going up Sunday. Some of the group is leaving to day to head back to Michigan (*cough* to be in classes on Monday) but the team is more than ready for the events of next week.

Final solar panel goes on the roof

Brian and Chris install the last PV panel at 10:11 am on Saturday October 6th.

Working hard through the first night

We worked through the first night (last Tuesday October 2nd) to make sure we stayed on track with our building schedule. It took us about 5 to 6 hours to complete the framing structure.

THE TRUCKS FINALLY ARRIVE!

Here is some video, from day 1, of our excitement of when the first trucks arrived at around 2:30 in the morning.

View from the house

This is what we see every day while working on the house. Gives you moment to pause.

House at night

This picture was taken at 10:00 pm Friday night. Chris and Brian are still on the roof installing PV panels. The deck is starting to look amazing as it slips down to the ground. Moral is still very high (hopefully Tina will post something about the group mexican dinner we just had before this).

View of the Mall

This is a view of the Mall looking towards the Capital Building (you can just see it towards the left). I was standing on the roof of the Aloeterra house at the time. Team Montreal is next to us in the forground.

Friday afternoon: We are a little behind on the PV panels and the deck. The PVs will be done tonight but the deck it taking a little longer. There was alot of little adjustments that were needed and a learning curve for assembly (like the need to buy a 9 lb sledgehammer to "adjust" the position of the deck panels). Now you know why we needed Larry's Toy - the steel and Xtendex decking take anywhere from 6 to 10 people to move . . . or one forklift. We have had alot of other teams coming over to check out the house - the Skatelite panels are drawing attention but general comment is just the quality of the craftsmanship and design.

Late fastener in the last panel

Friday October 5 at 10:46 am - mark that time. It was when the last fastener went into the late skatelite panel on the side of the house. The skin is complete. Jody is grinning in the forground with our courageous Carpenter's Union rep, Jeff, taking up the middle ground. Brian is doing the honors with the drill up on the top.

Trimming the Skatelite

Brian, Sonia and Ben work behind the house trimming the skatelite. Some of the flashing shifted slightly during transportation so the wall panels had to be shaved slightly. You can see the big green 35' extendable boom 6000 lb forklift in the background - we just call it "Larry's toy".

Team Photo

This photo is old in blog terms as it was taken yesterday when the crane set up for the main module installation. It made me grin so much to look at it that I wanted to get it up for everyone else to see. Now that the students have a little more time, I am trying to get Sonia, Tina, Nick and Steve S. to start to add their experiences and thoughts to the blog. Next week, Karen will be here to add her impressions to the rest of the site she created.

Is it only day 2?

I don't think any of us can believe that we only started putting the house together less than 24 hours ago. We have had another great day, getting much accomplished. The house modules went together quickly yesterday although the final unloading of the truck didn't. Larry, Ben, Eric, Steve S, myself and Brian spent until the early hours of the morning trying to get the MRA trailer cleared out so our understanding truck driver could leave. We are starting on the deck and the solar panels are going on the roof as I write this. We are aiming to get the house together by Friday . . .

The House in the early morning

We aren't running separate crews anymore, we just get so much more done when the team is working together. The original concept was to work around the clock, but it just wasn't productive. Due to the heat (over 90 degrees F today), we are also taking the hottest part of the day off (Tina, Sonia and Clarice recommend using this time to take advantage of the pool at our hotel). You can see from the photograph above that the house is in good shape with all the deck modules staged for installation.

PPE all the way round

The crane is just about to arrive and everyone is in the proper PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for the occasion. It is early afternoon Wednesday October 3rd and the main house modules are about to go on the foundations.

Setting the foundation steel

We had a schedule of 8 hours to set the foundation steel, the team finished it in 4 hours. Enthusiasm and morale is high. There is so much activity on the Washington Mall that is strang e to think that it is 4:00 am. The trucks that were suppose to show up at 8:00 am on Wednesday morning called us at 7:00 pm on TUESDAY saying that they where ready to unload . . . but we didn't have a crane scheduled for another 12 hours. Well . . . at least they were early :)

The first trucks arrive

Initial set up

Eric Christie and Harold Remlinger set up the laser level and good old fashioned string to lay out the foundation locations.

Airport Huddle

We are here and looking good. The plan is to get to the hotel and then head out to the registration at the Department of Energy. Construction officially begins at midnight, so that gives us 10 hours to get organized.

Arrival in DC!!

yeah, this is us getting off the plane in Washington DC. Jody Washington is giving a big grin and the wave. Smooth flight (we think the pilot increased the speed of the plane cause he heard we were heading to the Decathlon . . . but the stewardess thought we were a track team in our matching Aloeterra jackets)

No one said this would be easy

After almost two years of running a marathon to build a house for the Solar Decathlon, Team ALOeTERRA spent the final month sprinting through an obstacle course to complete all the final preparations in time.

. . . and we made it. What you see is the wrapped house modules being loaded onto the lowboy trucks for a wide load trip to the east coast and Washington DC.

We have the trucks scheduled to arrive the morning of October 3rd, which give the team about 8 hours from midnight to unload all our equipment and get the foundation framing set.

Here we go :)