Blueprint: By Civil Engineering Department
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Solar Decathlon, Europe 2014 J R Achyuthan The Solar Decathlon is an international student competition taking place every two years. This competition was created in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Energy in order to develop the transmission of the knowledge and the research in the field of the green buildings, in particular solar energy. The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002 in the US and has since occurred biennially. The first edition of the Solar Decathlon Europe (SDE) took place in June 2010 in Madrid. The second one was held in September 2012 in Madrid and the next one is in Paris-Versailles in 2014. The purpose of this competition is to allow students to discover and learn how to use renewable energies and to raise awareness among the general public, thus helping solar technology to enter the market more quickly. The Solar Decathlon challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends “Team Shunya represents for us an affordability, consumer opportunity for our students and faculty appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production. to work together on a very important Team Shunya is the first team from India to be selected for the problem and learn by doing” Solar Decathlon. Team Shunya is a -Prof. Rangan Banerjee (Faculty Advisor) collaboration of the premier technology and architecture institutes of India, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Rachana Sansad’s Academy of Architecture. Team Shunya is a multi-disciplinary unit consisting of more than 70 students and faculty from 7 disciplines of engineering and architecture working together to represent India at the international stage. Ultimately, the team aims to achieve the following:
Sustainably meet the exponentially growing demand for urban housing in India Bring about a change in the Indian building industry, by demonstrating the affordability of sustainable housing Formulate and document a design process, which could be replicated to create sustainable homes in a resource efficient way
Conclusion This project provides the team with not just a huge exposure to the technical aspects of a house, but also imbibes in them a capability to think in terms of the practical implementation of the technologies being developed and used. Moreover, since the team has to construct the house themselves, it provides them with a unique experience at this stage of their academic life. The level of student-faculty interaction which this project develops is also a very positive sign. The last six months have been exhilarating for me. I mean, the project means a lot to me. It is something that we students conceived and are now helping take shape. The learning that we get out of this is immense. But more than that what I value the most is the friendship and camaraderie that we have built. It has been a really awesome experience!!!
Vision To maintain India’s tremendous growth rate, it is crucial to meet the exponentially increasing demand for urban housing and energy in a sustainable fashion. Through the project Head Office, the team is looking to build a sustainable zero-energy solar-powered house for the average Indian homeowner, the largest consumers of urban houses in the next two decades. The house has a carpet area of 65 sq. meters and is meant for a family of 4-6 people. We plan to integrate passive solar technologies for natural ventilation, lighting and temperature control into the house. The house, named H O, also has its own air conditioning system controlled by a building energy management system. Team Shunya will also actively endeavor to increase awareness among the building industry and the general population about solar technology, responsible energy use and energy efficiency.
Judging Criteria S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 19 Total
Field Architecture Engineering & construction Energy efficiency Electrical energy balance Comfort conditions Housing functioning Communication & social awareness Industrialization & market viability Innovation Sustainability
Team Shunya
Points 120 80 100 120 120 80 80 80 80 100 1000
Team Solar Decathlon, 2014
Solar Decathlon: A Civil Engineering Perspective For a civil engineer, this competition offers unique challenges. This competition requires that the building be constructed by the participating teams at a construction site convenient for them, and then later be disassembled and reassembled at the competition site within strict time limits. For the assembly phase, a total of ten days are provided to each team in which the fully furnished house should be constructed. Four days are provided for the disassembly phase in which the teams should disassemble the house and restore the site to the original condition. The house that the team envisions is a single floored structure with various utility spaces based on the requirements of an Indian user and an accessible roof. To be able to assemble and disassemble the house in such a short, Team Shunya is looking at a framed structure which may be of steel and wall panels which can be connected and disconnected easily as required. The team is currently in the process of designing the wall panels which can suit our requirements of minimizing the exchange of heat between the inside and outside environment. Further since digging is not allowed at the site, the team is developing a footing which can comfortably transfer the load of the house to the soil underneath. On the water aspect, the team aims to minimize the use of water by utilizing rainwater and recycling grey water for various purposes like irrigation or possibly a water feature. The constraints put up by the competition and the specific requirements of the team make the civil engineering aspects pretty tricky and make it imperative that the civil engineers think in terms of the construction process and not just the design process.