Design Overview
The Solar Decathlon of 2002 was an educational watershed challenging the relation between academia and practice and between research and its corresponding contribution to society. Though the first Virginia Tech team has graduated, the knowledge derived from the initial endeavor has been transferred to and transformed by the 2005 team. The new project has achieved a higher level of complexity expressed in an elegant simplicity. As the 2002 project was a ribald confederation of pristine parts, the new work has been reconsidered as a systemic whole. The initial theme of the art of integration has been realized through a process of design that strives to avoid problems and discover new forms embodied with a sense of the sustainable and the beautiful.
Innovative components include:
- a translucent wall assembly that tramsmits beautiful natural light and delivers high insulation and sound absorbtion value
- tunable walls that control moisture, temperature and light transmission while allowing any desired color, no painting required
- a compact efficient plan that offers spatial generousity
- architectural form that subsumes the connotations of technology with elegance and grace
- an intergral roof/ceiling that expresses the collection of energy, provides intimacy and psychologically expands the volume of the house past its small footprint
- nighttime identity that symbolically radiates back the energy collected during the day
- a surrounding deck that links inside and outside, establishes presence on the site, and serves as a structural element for transportation
- radiant floor heating throughout the house, quiet, no moving air, the highest quality heat
- high pressure heat pumps that efficiently heat water for the radiant system
- sustainable materials that contribute to the quality of space and healthy environments
