Solar Decathlon House to be Clad in Flexible Vinyl
LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 11, 2011 – The 2011 Solar Decathlon entry from Team California will be clad in flexible Vinyl Fabric. A collaborative effort of students from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Team California is one of 20 collegiate teams challenged to design, build, and operate cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive solar-powered houses on the National Mall this September as part of the biennial competition organized by the U.S. Department of Energy.
CH:IP (the name of the house, which stands for Compact House: Increasing Possibility), features an exterior insulation assembly wrapped in a flexible vinyl membrane. Called PUFT, a combination of the insulation’s puffy feature with the skin’s tufting strategies, the material resembles the look of a down jacket or spacesuit. It is something you have to see in person to really understand. “But,” said Reed Finlay, one of the team leaders, “how can you look at this big beautiful puffy thing and not smile?”
The Vinyl Institute has provided funding and technical assistance for the house, whose box structure is faceted in several dimensions to provide an optimal roof angle for year-round solar energy collection, and a comfortable, vaulted interior space. Further faceting minimizes the building’s footprint on the exterior, while accommodating the living needs of the occupant on the interior.
Separating the structural members from the insulation layer, and wrapping the insulation assembly in a flexible vinyl membrane, gives CHiP the high R-values necessary for a net zero house, at a significantly reduced cost, and allowed for a great deal of design innovation as well. Finlay notes, “It is clear that the discussion of plastics in architecture is very complex. But, the material has such potential, and we are excited to be able to show a unique new example of this potential.”
The Solar Decathlon was first held in 2002, and has been held biennially since 2005. The competition educates student participants and the public about the many cost-saving opportunities presented by clean-energy products; demonstrates opportunities presented by cost-effective houses that combine energy-efficient construction and appliances with renewable energy systems; and provides participating students unique training that prepares them for careers in clean energy projects. Every house in the competition is required to be net-zero, or to use only as much energy as its solar panels can generate.
The 2011 Solar Decathlon will take place Sept. 23rd to Oct. 2nd, in Washington, D.C., at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park just south of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial, where the houses will be set up and open to the public. Juries will judge the houses in 10 categories, which include architectural design, appeal, affordability, temperature, hot water, appliances, and home entertainment and comfort. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy products and maximum efficiency.
Since it began, the Solar Decathlon has involved 92 collegiate teams. In 2009, the 10-day event on the National Mall generated 307,502 house visits. Finalists have come from throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Belgium, Germany, China, and New Zealand.
The first Solar Decathlon Europe was held in Madrid in June 2010, with the next planned for Europe in 2012. The first Solar Decathlon China will be held in 2013.
For more information about the Solar Decathlon and the CH:IP House, go to: www.solardecathlon.gov and www.chip2011.com.
Based in Los Angeles, SCI-Arc has 80 faculty members, most of them practicing architects, and 500 students. Twenty students are involved in the project.
Caltech is a private research university in Pasadena with strong emphases on science and engineering, enrolling 950 undergraduates and employing 300 professional faculty,
The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC/vinyl resin in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC/vinyl products to society.
For more information on The Vinyl Institute, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
571-970-3327
jpalmer@vinylinfo.org
Also go to www.vinylindesign.com, www.achievegreen.net, and www.vinylinfo.org.