-they went through a rigorous series of environmental assessments, including the high bars set by NEPA and the California Environmental Quality Act, passing with flying colors. This was not only a scientific assessment but included meeting key stakeholders and developing mitigation plans which included things like not grading the sites and clipping, not removing extant vegetation.

-when they found in their continuing monitoring of the site that there were more endangered tortoises that initial censuses indicated, they scaled back the size of the project by 500 acres.

None of this sounds like what the tone of your article implies. It seems to me that projects like this are being sensitively sited to minimize their habitat impacts, including using disturbed ground, sites close to existing transportation and transmission infrastructure, etc. It also sounds like they are learning and adjusting to what the data indicates is needed. What more do you want?

Article source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/should-we-sacrifice-wildlife-for-solar-power/22400

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

We found some great wind generator tactics too.

Our alternative was a tough one. We could both expand our Renewable Vitality System, a alternative between hydro power from our little brook or put up a breeze generator. We additionally had the choice to just buy extra solar panels. We decided to discover ways to construct a wind generator and right here is why – You might wish to build your personal too.

There are occasions of the 12 months when even a hundred photo voltaic panels and 10 occasions our present battery storage would not run our home. In the fall and winter the sun may not shine for months at a time. Thus, no power is produced from the solar panels, irrespective of how many we might have. We really needed to clean out the wrinkles in our charging round as well as produce extra energy for our dwelling, that meant including extra photo voltaic panels just would not work for us.

Hydro energy might be probably the most cost effective choice in case you have enough working water with an enough drop to produce power. Water energy will generate 24/7, but we had a problem with this selection. From November till April our stream freezes strong and with the intention to produce power we want operating water. Except we could determine a strategy to run ice through the hydro turbine that is.

That left us with the wind generator option. A fast evaluation of our web site advised us we had wind energy potential. Open area and a website that was free of obstructions for over three hundred yards. We would solely want a forty foot tower to stand up to the great wind.

So, we began looking for a wind generator. The wind definitely went out of our sales, so to talk, after we began wanting at the price of new and used wind turbines.

During our search for a wind energy turbine a pal of ours prompt why not build one. He had performed simply that not too long ago with a few plans he had downloaded from a web site known as Homemade Wind Generator. We procured a have a look at the great job he had finished on his wind generator and determined to download our personal plans.

We realized how one can one which price us less than $a hundred, including the small cost of the plans (still beneath $20), however in comparison with the price in the 1000′s for a brand new or used wind generator to fulfill our wants it was an actual bargain. The plans have been easy and simple to follow and provided sources for the entire materials we would need. Is not it time you constructed your own.

Once we knew where to look, the DC motor utilized for a generator was rapidly positioned, in addition to the free PVC cylinder we used for those blades. Our family is kind of pleased studying how to construct it and It produces about 1000 watts of power at 24 volts. We now have plans to construct one for the entrance yard next.

Isn’t it time you began now, let’s get in progress.

At Howcanigogreen.net you will find out about do it yourself solar power, domestic wind turbine,and solar water panel.

Originally posted 2010-07-17 04:01:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The heliosphere, the “bubble” in which our Sun and planets reside, is formed by the interaction between the solar wind, flowing outward from the Sun, and the interstellar medium, which presses up against it. Electrically charged, or ionized, particles cannot penetrate the boundary between these two bodies. However, neutral particles, which make up about half the material outside the heliosphere, flow freely in through the boundary.

The only other spacecraft to directly detect these inflowing neutral particles was Ulysses, which more than a decade ago measured interstellar neutral helium.

Although IBEX is designed primarily to map the interactions between the solar wind and ionized interstellar material, its low-energy energetic neutral atom camera has now also measured interstellar neutral particles not detected by Ulysses. From its location within Earth’s orbit, IBEX has sampled interstellar hydrogen, oxygen, and neon in addition to neutral helium.

Neon and oxygen reside throughout the galaxy, but researchers are unsure of their distribution. Using IBEX data, the first direct measurements of these elements in the local interstellar medium, researchers can determine how much oxygen is in the local part of the galaxy, which materials are present in what amounts and more.

“Answering these questions is important for understanding the variability of the galactic soup – the material from which stars, planets and life all form,” says Dr. David J. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and an assistant vice president at Southwest Research Institute.

For example, the presence of less oxygen in the local interstellar medium compared to the Sun and galactic average could indicate the Sun formed in a region with less oxygen than exists in its current location. Another possibility is that the oxygen could be preferentially tied up or “hidden” in other galactic materials, such as dust grains and ices.

IBEX data reveal that interstellar neutrals enter the heliosphere at a speed of about 52,000 mph, roughly, 7,000 mph slower than inferred from Ulysses observations, and that they enter from a somewhat different direction. Magnetic forces play a major role in the interactions of the charged particles at the heliosphere’s boundaries. As the overall particle speeds drop, however, the magnetic forces play an even more dominant role.

“With this lower speed, the external magnetic forces cause the heliosphere to become more squished and misshapen,” says McComas. “Rather than being shaped like a bullet moving through the air, the heliosphere becomes flattened, more like a beach ball being squeezed when someone sits on it.”

Based on the older Ulysses data, researchers had theorized that the heliosphere was leaving the local galactic cloud and transitioning into a new region of space. However, while the boundary is very close, IBEX results show the heliosphere remains fully in the local cloud, at least for the moment.

“Sometime in the next hundred to few thousand years, the blink of an eye on the timescales of the galaxy, our heliosphere should leave the local interstellar cloud and encounter a much different galactic environment,” McComas says.

Researchers will be able to add measurements about the charged particles outside the heliosphere to the neutral particle measurements provided by IBEX as the two Voyager spacecraft leave our solar system and cross the heliopause, possibly within the next few years.

“That will give us an even more complete picture of what’s happening in the regions surrounding our home in the solar system,” says McComas.

The six papers detailing the new IBEX results and an editorial written by McComas were published in a Special Supplements issue of the Astrophysical Journal called “Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX): Direct Sampling of the Interstellar Medium.”

The authors represent an international team of researchers from Southwest Research Institute, the University of Bern, Switzerland, the Polish Academy of Sciences Space Research Centre, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

IBEX is the latest in NASA’s series of low-cost, rapidly developed Small Explorer space missions. Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio leads and developed the mission with a team of national and international partners. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the Explorers Program for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Article source: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/IBEX_spacecraft_measures_alien_particles_from_outside_solar_system_999.html

Related posts:

1. NASA reveals 11 new alien solar systems An artist’s rendition of a newly-discovered planet in space. Image...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

They looked like everyday pieces of patio furniture, but they had a secret.

The tables and chairs on display at Kellogg Arena as part of the Live Green Home Show and Green Vehicle Showcase were made from recycled milk jugs. Amish workers in Ohio took 650 used jugs to create one sturdy counter-height chair that retailed for $286.

The furniture impressed Jack and Judy Nutt, who came from Coldwater to take in the home show.

“It looks like they’d last forever and wouldn’t rust,” Jack Nutt said. The chairs do come with a 20-year warranty.

“They’re so comfortable, I hated to get up,” Judy Nutt said.

Along with the eco-friendly furniture, the couple examined the hybrid and electric vehicles on display and browsed the artwork for sale as part of the adjacent Art from the Heart Fair. Judy Nutt purchased child-sized aprons for her grand-daughters.

The shows continue today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Also on display were homemade jewelry and food, home remodeling ideas and equipment for greening a home.

Garrett and Chrystal Murray of Battle Creek spent time learning about the solar panels on display by Patriot Solar Group of Albion.

Garrett Murray, author of “Extreme Survival Pocket Guide,” has been experimenting with solar panels, including attaching them to a backpack to charge electronics while hiking.

He said he was impressed with some of the offerings from Patriot Solar Group, including a roll-up solar panel.

“You can roll it up like a sleeping bag then roll it out to hook up your radio to it,” he said.

Richard Rubin of Romulus-based Maxi Container Inc. explained to visitors how his company turned plastic barrels into composting bins and rain barrels.

A composter mounted on wooden legs so that it can be turned and mixed sold for $125.

Karen Vanderveen of Battle Creek was impressed with how simple it was to mix the compost in the Maxi barrel compared to her composter at home.

“I have to use a pitch fork” she said. “This is much easier.”

John Burrell of Battle Creek said the $60 rain barrel reminded him of how his mother would collect rain water for washing her hair.

He said a rain barrel in the home made sense.

“Instead of letting the rain water run down the driveway, you can utilize it.”

Barrett Newkirk can be reached at 966-0692 or bnewkirk@battlecreekenquirer.com.

Article source: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120205/NEWS01/202050313

Related posts:

1. UM’s green house earns real green So it turns out the  University of Maryland’s award-winning green...
2. UM sells award-winning green home to Pepco The University of Maryland’s award-winning “green” house, WaterShed, has found...
3. Save Money By Adopting Energy Saving Ideas Not only is going green good for the environment but...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1. Considerable Energy Savings. By supplementing to your house energy consumption with energy produced by solar panels from solar panel kits, you can cutback your energy bills in the sphere of partly. While solar to your house kits are not habitually able to fully power a standard to your house, they can concoct an gigantic difference. Concoct your own to your house solar power using solar power kits, and you save up front to the same degree well.

2. Function of Renewable Energy. Previously all the lubricate and chat are passed on, they’re passed on on behalf of worthy. But solar power is renewable.

If not you table to stick around on behalf of an alternative five billion years whilst the sun’s natural life yearn for survive in excess of, you’ll give sufficient solar power on behalf of the put your feet up of your life. Depending on your climate, solar energy from solar power kits can survive very abundant and die a prolonged way near dipping the function of fossil fuels on behalf of generation of electricity. The additional of the process you are able to undertake by hand, such to the same degree by building panels from solar panel kits, the less significant you concoct your own environmental footprint.

3. Lack of Pollution. Other than whatever fossil fuels were used in the sphere of the conception of the solar panels themselves, solar panels accomplish not cause air pollution. Emissions data from 13 manufacturers of solar cells in the sphere of Europe and the United States from 2004 through 2006 showed with the aim of solar power is 90% excluding polluting than power produced by fossil fuels, and the pollution with the aim of does turn up from manufacture and ecstasy of solar cells trimmings bearing in mind it is shipped and installed. If you concoct your own panels from kits you’re liability your part to underrate the bearing of solar cell machinery on the natural world.

4. Capability to convert Applications. There’s almost rebuff limit to the amount of general policy with the aim of can survive powered by solar power from solar power kits: Hose heaters, satellites, landscaping illumination, and even cars can survive powered by solar energy. Whilst nation supplement their home’s power by building panels from solar panel kits, they can convert how with the aim of to your house solar power is used.

5. Availability the least bit. Running exciting power outline to remote areas is not constantly the superlative way to provide electricity to folks areas. But near are many remote areas, particularly in the sphere of the desert, with the aim of can benefit greatly from using solar panels from solar panel kits. A new to the job to your house built to survive powered by solar panels can survive self sufficient in the sphere of conditions of energy production and consumption. Even in the sphere of areas with power outline nearby, solar can provide a viable alternative to linking to the exciting grid.

To your house solar power is getting a tremendous boost in the sphere of popularity with government ask too much of breaks in the sphere of the United States, and additionally around the humankind to the same degree nation realize with the aim of alternatives to the function of fossil fuels are crucial on behalf of the strength and opportunity of the planet. Building solar panels from solar panel kits is single way nation are taking environmental and energy concerns into their own hands.

Originally posted 2010-01-04 14:44:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Print

UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are creating the house of the future

Erin Ryan

Sat, Feb 4, 2012 (3:30 p.m.)

Imagine relaxing in a home that is completely self-sufficient and looks great to boot. UNLV is working on making this rendering a reality for the 2013 Solar Decathlon, an international competition that is all about sustainable design. Go Rebels.

At least one construction project is thriving in Las Vegas. It may only be 730 square feet, but it packs a punch.

Called “Autonomy House,” the proposed home was designed by students and professors at UNLV to be completely energy neutral—harnessing the desert sun for power, filtering rain and gray water for everyday use, and sequestering carbon in the landscaping. But sustainability isn’t the only draw. The home’s aesthetic reflects mod architectural trends, accessibility considerations and the Mojave’s spare beauty, and its potentially “zero-energy” performance means it would operate off the traditional public utility grid.

The proposal is so impressive it was selected among only 20 worldwide to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. The competition has been driving green innovation at universities since 2002, and the fall showdown in Irvine, California, will have UNLV debuting against such juggernauts as Stanford and Cal Tech, not to mention international contenders from Austria, Canada and the Czech Republic.

“For 2013, we reviewed twice as many proposals as we could accept—and all were well written and compelling in their own right. We are so pleased with the caliber of the 20 new teams. They represent a passionate, dedicated group full of ideas,” Solar Decathlon director Richard King wrote on the competition blog.

UNLV’s “Team Las Vegas” has about a year and a half to perfect and fabricate its concept, module by module. While members come primarily from disciplines within architecture, engineering, business and communications, their ranks include an artist, an anthropologist, set and interior designers, a biologist, a historian and a welder. Their proposal states that this diversity, coupled with an innate appreciation for environmental challenges, will contribute to the team’s success in 2013.

Graduate student Alexia Hsin Chen, one of the student leads on the project, says community partnership is another key factor. Industry advisers are essential to transforming the renderings into realities, and they currently include Lucchesi Galati Architects, Marnell Architects, NV Energy, Bombard Renewable Energy, Helix Electric, Pulte Homes, GigaCrete Green Building Products, Southern Nevada Water District and the Las Vegas Water District.

Aided by all this expertise and that of distinguished faculty on the team, Chen and her fellow students will send a message about the accessibility of the home of the future.

“The point of the competition is to showcase what a house, just a simple residence, can be with all this different technology integrated,” Chen says, “show the public that solar panels can be integrated into architecture in an aesthetically pleasing way and perform wonderfully for you. … It’s very important to educate people about how much energy homes are using.”

Jane Cretty, a junior majoring in civil engineering, remembers learning about that very thing by watching the Solar Decathlon on TV. Also a student leader for Team Las Vegas, Cretty has been involved in UNLV’s effort to make the competition since she was a freshman.

“We really need to show people what we’re capable of,” she says. UNLV may not have the reputation of some of the other Solar Decathletes, but Cretty insists the programs her team represents are top notch. Autonomy House will demonstrate their collective skills and dedication at the Solar Decathlon. After that, the home may become a permanent office for a Vegas-based sustainability organization, or it might be installed somewhere on campus for further research and to inspire future students to keep innovating.

Thanks to her involvement in the project, Cretty is considering a master’s program at UNLV. The specific thrust of the Solar Decathlon may not play a significant role in her future work, but it has deeply affected the way she sees our constructed world.

“It definitely gives me a better outlook on how to be more economical and efficient,” she says. “That way you’re not wasting materials or using materials that are harmful to the environment—just being more conscious in general.”

Article source: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/feb/04/unlvs-solar-decathletes-are-rebels-cause/

Related posts:

1. UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are Rebels with a cause Tweet Print UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are creating the house of...
2. UNLV team to design house for solar contest – Las Vegas Review Sometimes, competitions that college students enter produce cute novelties and...
3. UM’s green house earns real green So it turns out the  University of Maryland’s award-winning green...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

What if generating solar energy at home required little more than mixing some grass clippings with inexpensive chemicals? That’s exactly what MIT researcher Andreas Mershin has found to be the case. The scientist says creating a solar cell could be as easy as mixing any green organic material (grass clippings, agricultural waste) with a bag of custom chemicals and painting the mixture on a roof. Once the efficiency of Mershin’s system is improved, this type of solar technology could make cheap energy available in rural places and developing countries where people don’t have access to affordable energy. Read on to see a video of Mershin’s findings.

Here at Inhabitat, we’ve been following biophotovoltaics — devices that generate energy from photosynthesis — and although the possibilities are limitless, most of the existing technology is very expensive and a long way from reaching the market. In a study published in Scientific Reports, Mershin and his fellow researchers have come up with a process to “hijack” the PS-I molecules that are responsible for photosynthesis. As Mershin explains in this video, in order to get these molecules to work for us, we must extract the protein that’s at the center of photosynthesis and stabilize it so that it continues to live and operate in a solar panel.

Mershin and his team developed an intricate nanostructure of titanium dioxide supported by nanowires, which carry a flow of current. The system is able to convert just 0.1 percent of sun energy to electricity — over four orders of magnitude better than previous biophotovoltaic systems — but that percentage will need to be improved upon further before the technology can be useful. The breakthrough “carries the promise of inexpensive and environmentally friendly solar power,” according to the study, and Mershin hopes that within a few years someone in a remote village will be able to take some grass clippings, mix them with some chemicals, and paint them on the roof to produce power.

View Source

SHARE IT

Tweet

Article source: http://www.deathrattlesports.com/archives/5097/mit-researchers-find-a-way-to-make-solar-panels-from-grass-clippings/

Related posts:

1. Get a Solar Power House and Find Out How Much Money You Could Save asked: A solar powerөd house iѕ simplү one that һarnesses...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Do you currently have sufficient Build-it-yourself knowledge in order to assemble electricity generating windmills at Home?

A person should really already have a few principal building abilities to be competent to accomplish the installation efficiently. On the other hand, don’t be hesitant to experiment with this even in the event that you happen to be a absolute beginner, because that’s how I got going and I was able to finish my personal wind generator without difficulty. I was successfully capable to estimate the volume of power recommended to power my house due to a internet down loadable manual I attained from a web site. The larger electricity generating windmills, for example those of which can easily generate better than 1,000 watts may absolutely demand additional work and consequently are generally even more difficult to construct in comparison to smaller sized ones.

So just how many windmills will a person need to make to power your home?

They will ordinarily not take up a ton of room, and not only this, it is additionally quite likely for you to put together more than one or even 2 of them in order to generate the quantity of energy required to power your house. I would certainly highly recommend that a novice not having very much DIY know-how need to assemble small sized to medium sized wind generators first before moving on to more substantial kinds.

Just what style of homemade wind turbine should you make in order to power your household?

Whenever it comes to people making free windmill electricity in the home, a horizontal axis type will be most flexible and also effective. It is constructed with rotor blades which look like airplane propellers and the full wind turbine is made up of the tower, base, rotor blades, battery packs and power generator.

Originally posted 2010-08-12 15:02:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Solar towers pepper the landscape at Convergence Energy solar farm near Delavan.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

A bank of meters at the Convergence Energy solar farm near Delavan.

DELAVAN — It’s a familiar occurrence on Hazel Ridge Road north of Delavan.

Approaching vehicles slow as drivers take a closer look at what’s growing in the 14-acre field next to Dan Osborn’s wholesale nursery business.

Sure, last year’s field of sunflowers was impressive enough.

Now, in the dead of winter, all that’s left is nearly 100 solar tracking towers that are harvesting enough energy to power about 125 homes for a year.

The brainchild of Convergence Energy of Lake Geneva, the networked solar farm has taken shape in the last couple of years as a green-power investment for people who want to invest in solar energy but, for one reason or another, can’t at their home or business.

The farm, which is now complete, is a series of 33 individual, limited liability companies. Each totals about 80 solar panels on three tracking towers that rotate to follow the sun from east to west. That generates about 30 percent more power than a more conventional system affixed atop a roof.

“It’s kind of eerie if you’re here at night and you listen to these pivot back to their starting point,” said Steve Johnson, Convergence’s vice president of business development.

Each LLC produces up to 20 kilowatts of electricity, and the combined solar farm is the second-largest project in Wisconsin, trailing only the massive setup at Epic Systems’ corporate campus in Verona.

It is the first in the state, however, to allow individual investors.

One to three investors comprise each LLC, and the combined farm involves about 45 investors, Johnson said.

The first LLC went online in April 2010, while the last was finished just before Christmas 2011.

“We’re now totally closed to new investors,” Johnson said. “It was a combination of market demand, grants and incentives and the investors that led to this project.

“There seemed to be more interest toward the end of the cycle, and lots of folks were approaching us as we sold out.”

Convergence Energy is a full-service provider of solar energy products, primarily focusing on every aspect of design, construction and administration. Based on a similar solar garden in Colorado, the Delavan project received funding from the state’s Focus on Energy program, as well as money from the federal stimulus package.

At the farm, Convergence makes its money on the equipment and its installation. It became the first customer of Helios Solar Works, which opened last year in Milwaukee.

Depending on the specific investor agreement, the assets revert to Convergence at the end of either 11 or 20 years.

In the meantime, investors get quarterly checks for the power generated at the farm and sold to We Energies.

Johnson said individual investments ranged from $15,000 to $50,000, and investors can reasonably expect to recoup their investment in seven to 10 years. Beyond that, the quarterly checks are profit.

Convergence leases the land from Osborn, who previously worked with the company to install solar panels on one of his barns.

“Sometimes, you just throw dollars at the wind,” Osborn said. “But I’ve always believed things like this are the right things to do.

“Twenty-five years ago I built an envelope house, not because I wanted to cut my carbon footprint, but because I didn’t want to make the energy companies rich.”

Osborn and his family and friends now own five of the systems at the solar farm.

“I really believe in this type of thing,” he said. “I think these solar farms should be popping up all over creation.

“If We Energies wanted to do more of these, I would invest in every one of them until I ran out of money.”

Osborn said the incentives cut about a third off the cost of his investment. But, he said, he would have invested even without the incentives.

“It certainly hasn’t been an economic disaster,” he said. “It’s just the smart thing to do, more like a righteous type of thing that we should all be doing.”

Osborn and Johnson said the economics have changed in the last decade to the point that it makes more sense for those who want to go green with their energy.

In fact, the price of solar panels is now about one-third of what Osborn paid when he did his barn project.

“We now use less than 1 percent solar, and there’s no reason it couldn’t be 15 percent to 30 percent,” Johnson said. “With more education, people will learn that solar is not what it was years ago.

“The numbers just work better now, and the price of energy is going up.”

Article source: http://walworthcountytoday.com/news/2012/feb/04/power-people-solar-farm-helps-individual-investors/

Related posts:

1. What is the Main Reason People Buy Solar Panels? You Will be Surprised. An investment in a solar panel installation is not a...
2. The Solar Power House Gets a Revolutionary Battery asked: Solar power technology for residences has been with us...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Print

UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are creating the house of the future

Erin Ryan

Sat, Feb 4, 2012 (3:30 p.m.)

Imagine relaxing in a home that is completely self-sufficient and looks great to boot. UNLV is working on making this rendering a reality for the 2013 Solar Decathlon, an international competition that is all about sustainable design. Go Rebels.

At least one construction project is thriving in Las Vegas. It may only be 730 square feet, but it packs a punch.

Called “Autonomy House,” the proposed home was designed by students and professors at UNLV to be completely energy neutral—harnessing the desert sun for power, filtering rain and gray water for everyday use, and sequestering carbon in the landscaping. But sustainability isn’t the only draw. The home’s aesthetic reflects mod architectural trends, accessibility considerations and the Mojave’s spare beauty, and its potentially “zero-energy” performance means it would operate off the traditional public utility grid.

The proposal is so impressive it was selected among only 20 worldwide to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. The competition has been driving green innovation at universities since 2002, and the fall showdown in Irvine, California, will have UNLV debuting against such juggernauts as Stanford and Cal Tech, not to mention international contenders from Austria, Canada and the Czech Republic.

“For 2013, we reviewed twice as many proposals as we could accept—and all were well written and compelling in their own right. We are so pleased with the caliber of the 20 new teams. They represent a passionate, dedicated group full of ideas,” Solar Decathlon director Richard King wrote on the competition blog.

UNLV’s “Team Las Vegas” has about a year and a half to perfect and fabricate its concept, module by module. While members come primarily from disciplines within architecture, engineering, business and communications, their ranks include an artist, an anthropologist, set and interior designers, a biologist, a historian and a welder. Their proposal states that this diversity, coupled with an innate appreciation for environmental challenges, will contribute to the team’s success in 2013.

Graduate student Alexia Hsin Chen, one of the student leads on the project, says community partnership is another key factor. Industry advisers are essential to transforming the renderings into realities, and they currently include Lucchesi Galati Architects, Marnell Architects, NV Energy, Bombard Renewable Energy, Helix Electric, Pulte Homes, GigaCrete Green Building Products, Southern Nevada Water District and the Las Vegas Water District.

Aided by all this expertise and that of distinguished faculty on the team, Chen and her fellow students will send a message about the accessibility of the home of the future.

“The point of the competition is to showcase what a house, just a simple residence, can be with all this different technology integrated,” Chen says, “show the public that solar panels can be integrated into architecture in an aesthetically pleasing way and perform wonderfully for you. … It’s very important to educate people about how much energy homes are using.”

Jane Cretty, a junior majoring in civil engineering, remembers learning about that very thing by watching the Solar Decathlon on TV. Also a student leader for Team Las Vegas, Cretty has been involved in UNLV’s effort to make the competition since she was a freshman.

“We really need to show people what we’re capable of,” she says. UNLV may not have the reputation of some of the other Solar Decathletes, but Cretty insists the programs her team represents are top notch. Autonomy House will demonstrate their collective skills and dedication at the Solar Decathlon. After that, the home may become a permanent office for a Vegas-based sustainability organization, or it might be installed somewhere on campus for further research and to inspire future students to keep innovating.

Thanks to her involvement in the project, Cretty is considering a master’s program at UNLV. The specific thrust of the Solar Decathlon may not play a significant role in her future work, but it has deeply affected the way she sees our constructed world.

“It definitely gives me a better outlook on how to be more economical and efficient,” she says. “That way you’re not wasting materials or using materials that are harmful to the environment—just being more conscious in general.”

Article source: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/feb/04/unlvs-solar-decathletes-are-rebels-cause/

Related posts:

1. UNLV team to design house for solar contest – Las Vegas Review Sometimes, competitions that college students enter produce cute novelties and...
2. Mo. university to enter solar home competition ROLLA, Mo. — Missouri University of Science and Technology has...
3. Mo. university to enter solar home competition The U.S. Department of Energy says the Rolla university will...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.