Starting Spring Semester

Today marks the first day of the spring semester SD course. The SD site recently posted Amendment No.2 to the RFP, detailing the additional proposal criteria. The deadline for second round submissions is March 16th, so we only have 5 weeks to prepare several important materials: a triptych poster, scale model, a 500 word statement “summarizing the main features of our conceptual design.” Given our time constraint, we will have to make difficult design decisions very quickly.

Luckily, we have a very strong group of students. Many of the students who were not able to be in the J-Term courses (but who had been involved in the project from the beginning) are now in the spring course, along with several excellent additions. Also, our teachers – architect Steve Smith and engineer Wayne Nelson – are awesome.

Selection Process: Round Two

We just received an email announcing that our proposal has been deemed “within the competitive range,” but that there is going to be a second round of evaluation. This is really good news – as not all teams made it past the first round – but it also means that we have lots more work to do, and soon!

J-term Classes Begin

We still haven’t heard anything yet. The two SD classes began today — “schematic design” taught by Ashar Nelson and “engineering for a solar-powered house” taught by Allan Baer. The work begins!

Waiting to Hear...

All day, we have been eagerly and repeatedly refreshing the Solar Decathlon website. This is the day the DOE was supposed to give us word. Nothing. We've been told to expect this; we’ll wait.

Solar Decathlon Competition 2009

Earlier this week, we had several days off for from class. Conveniently, the Solar Decathlon 2009 competition coincided with our break. Twelve of us traveled to Washington, D.C. to see the “solar village” on the mall. It was inspiring, to say the least. The displays were impressive, but we felt we could definitely compete if we got in!

Design Charette

We were all a bit nervous before the design Charette yesterday morning. We waited like kids waiting for a birthday party to start, praying all their guests would come and have a great time. Soon our fears were assuaged when parents, professionals, and students began streaming into Old Stone Mill, the location of the Charette. Five hours, several sketch pads, and many cups of coffee later, we had identified several key ideas that we know will inspire and inform our design!