Sun Plug

SOLAR HOUSE TEAM

MISSOURI S&T

Winter 2012-2013

an adaptable living environment

California, Here We Come!
The U.S. Department of Energys Solar Decathlon is moving to California for 2013. This will be S&Ts fifth Solar Decathlon, and weve designed the Chameleon House to meet this challenge. Its called the Chameleon House due to its ability to adapt its features to meet the tenants wants and needs. The home highlights the teams strong engineering and technological background and will demonstrate S&T student talents at the mid-October 2013 event. A major part of this adaptability is the Chameleon Home Automation System (CHAS), first developed in for S&Ts 2009 decathlon entry. Since that time the automation team has reworked the system to increase its capabilities while slashing cost and size. CHAS is proactive rather than reactive, combining exsisting weather conditions and forecasts to manage the homes HVAC systems before the interior reaches an uncomfortable level. Any web-enabled device can be used to control lights, shades, and even the entertainment center giving the resident a state of the By: Robert Folk art tool that can accommodate any situation within the home. This flexibility inspired the team to spread this design concept into the physical features throughout the house. The team developed numerous transformable items for the Chameleon House, from a partition wall between the bedroom and living area, a versatile GRID storage unit, moveable cabinets, to a table/bar/counter combination. The team believes that in a relatively small home, the space should be managed to best fit a wide Continued on page 6

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California, Here We Come! Chameleon House Renderings Structures Passive Solar Automation Electrical Mechanical Be a Solar Supporter! Meet the 2013 Officers E-Newsletter

A LOOK INSIDE

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Chameleon House
The Chameleon House is the Missouri S&T entry into the Solar Decathlon 2013. Aesthetically, the house is clean and contemporary. Unobtrusive colors and modern finishes were chosen so as not to encumber the configurability of the home. The interior ambiance adapts with the mood of the occupant. As part of the architectural design, some building system elements are exposed to make the occupant feel truly in control of the space. Developing a unified and overarching architectural concept is crucial to being successful in the Solar Decathlon. The concept, Engineering and Adaptable Environment, was established in conjunction with the name; Chameleon House. The team has embraced this concept by utilizing an open floor plan with a partition wall to allow the space to adapt to the needs of the resident. The concept is furthered by features such as the grid-storage system, transforming table and reconfigurable kitchen cabinets. These renderings show many of the homes interior features, with adaptable designs highlighted in red. Keep an eye on our website (solarhouse.mst.edu) and Facebook (MSTSolarHouse) to see the renderings come to life.

Wall-mounted TV can be seen from any part of the house.

Grid wall storage system provides space for everything from toys to books.

End tables/foot rests nest inside the grid wall.

Moveable kitchen cabinets provide a flexible working environment.

Take a walk through

Disappearing wall turns the entire house into a great room.

Hide the office when you need more space.

the S&T Chameleon House!

Open floor plan bathroom.

Save water with a dualflush toilet.

The bed folds into the wall for more living space. Got guests? Fold out the sleep sofa.

Structures
Colin Polleys
The structures group has been tasked with a diverse range of jobs from designing the house structure to the critical job of coordinating its transportation to California. These fifteen Miners, ranging from freshman to graduate students, are well prepared for the upcoming high R-value Structural Insulated Panels. Three house sections, supplemented by an attached solarium will be bolted together to form the structure. California is an active seismic region, so each decathon entry must be designed to account for much higher seismic loading than found in Missouri. This seismic issue has forced us to rethink many of our initial structural decisions. While this has been challenging it has greatly expanded our knowledge of civil engineering.

challenge. A lightweight steel structure will support the

Passive Solar
Robert Koon
Passive solar construction is simply taking best advantage of the local climate. Conforming windows, shades, and ventilation to collect, distribute, or even deflect solar energy is key to reducing energy costs, and the passive team is tasked with doing just that. Motorized windows controlled by the Chameleon system are situated to best provide natural ventilation and light. Movable shading devices make it easy to change according to the season. Inspired by the 2002 S&Ts Solar House airlocks the 2013 house will feature an attached solarium to serve as a thermal buffer zone and creates a low maintenance variable to help keep interior temperatures stable. The solarium has been one of the key features that has been with the house since the initial process of designing the house. It shades the house from solar gain in the summer, maximizes solar gain in the winter and adds more living space during temperate months. This feature not only helps the house rise above the competition, it ultimately serves as an important component of the Chameleon House passive solar system.

Automation
Austin Murdock
Building off the success of the 2009 Chameleon automation system the team is taking on the challenge of building a more Headshot powerful, energy efficient, and modular system at a much lower cost. The team is accomplishing this through using low cost, energy efficient hardware and software created by S&T team members. Our group is broken down into three sub-groups, one working on the graphical user interface (GUI), one designing the database and the third working on the design of the modules that control the sensors and the connected devices. These three groups work together to provide a centralized control system for all of the other systems throughout the Chameleon House, as well as to provide statistics and optimize the efficiency of the other systems. Each of the independent modules communicate with a central server to store information. The server hosts the houses information database for the past 24 hours and provides a GUI for the user see statistics or control the systems within the house. The central server then backs up its data for later campus research.

Electrical
Charles Wright
We probably have the strongest electrical design group of any previous S&T Solar House Team, and that allows us to do more of the work at a lower cost. Were especially lucky to have Tony Wellnitz, a master electrician who returned to school for his engineering degree and has played a huge role in installing underground power to our temporary construction site. Tony will Aside from solar power, what sets Chameleon House apart from regular home electrical circuits is that well monitor each circuits power through the home automation system. Thatll show where power is used and how it might be conserved.

also oversee all electrical work on the house itself.

Our photovoltaic array will feature two different technologies. Nineteen panels/reflectors made by tenKsolar produce a low-voltage/reflector based system, and a smaller sub-array of six Sanyo bi-facial panels will shade the solarium. This unique combination of monocrystaline cells on top with amorphous cells on the bottom allows approximately twenty percent of the light through to increase ambient light under the panel, a perfect solution for the solarium roof.

Mechanical
Shawn Herrington
When I first got involved with the Solar House Team, the mechanical meetings were a casual gathering of a small group around the dining table in the 2009 solar house. In the months that followed, we outgrew the dining table and moved our meetings to a more traditional classroom setting. We grew in numbers as well, from a handful of warm bodies into the proud, 20-plus member team we are today. As the team at-large has transitioned from design to documentation, and now from documentation to construction, the members of the mechanical team have proven to be as versatile as they are dedicated. Whether it is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony, sizing solar water pumps, or digging a trench, there is never a shortage of enthusiastic mechanical team members willing to help. For the Chameleon House the mechanical team has developed an innovative approach to embody the concept an adaptable living environment. The Chameleon House features a mixed-mode HVAC system that minimizes energy usage by predicting optimum strategies to condition the house based on forecast data. To further reduce energy consumption, all water is heated using energy harvested from the sun. Flatplate collectors in conjunction with a highly-insulated, high-capacity water storage tank, heat water that is used for taking showers, washing dishes, etc. The high thermal capacity of water combined with the highlyinsulated tank allows the system to also be used as an energy storage device. Like a battery for heat, the tank accepts excess heat from the sun during the daytime hours then releases that heat at night. While the current focus of the mechanical team is to finish designing and start building an entry for the 2013 Solar Decathlon, we are also developing a comprehensive report on the methods we used and the choices we made. Once completed, this report will ensure that the mechanical team does not need to reinvent the wheel for each subsequent competition cycle. Perhaps the most important part of this team is not just the house we build, but the connections we make because of it. I enjoy being a lead because it gives me the opportunity to educate my members through hands-on design and construction experience. I get great satisfaction from sharing my passion for this project with other students, S&T alumni, our community, and our many sponsors.

California, Here We Come!

Continued from page 1 range of tastes and locales. The Missouri S&T Solar House Team is very proud of the Chameleon House design and is eager to see it all come together during construction. The 2013 house will be 25% larger then S&Ts four previous solar homes and has to be moved nearly twice as far to the competition site. Careful thought was put into each aspect of the house including the tremendous logistical challenges, and the team believes this house can be a top performer at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California.

Go MinerS!

Be a Solar Supporter!
Building a solar house is an expensive project and we rely on your contributions to make it possible. Consider becoming a Solar Supporter. You will be helping us build and transport the Chameleon House to California for the Solar Decathlon. Donate online at solarhouse.mst.edu or mail your donation to: Misouri University of Science and Technology Solar House Team 1051 North Bishop Avenue 116 Kummer Student Design Center Rolla Missouri 65409 Make checks payable to: Missouri S&T Solar House Team

Name Address

Phone

Email

Meet the 2013 Officers

Robert Folk Emily Vandivert Aaron Enz Director of Project Director of Design Manager and Construction Public Relations

Eric Mullis Director of Finance

Mary Puleo Secretary

Missouri University of Science and Technology Solar House Team 116 Kummer Student Design Center 1051 North Bishop Avenue Rolla, MO 65409-1410 Phone: 573-341-6782 Website: solarhouse.mst.edu E-mail: solarhouse@mst.edu

SOLAR HOUSE TEAM

MISSOURI S&T

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