Wednesday, May 18, 2011

HU/ODU Solar Decathlon Home Arrives

Unit 6 Unplugged
The ODU/HU Solar Decathlon team received an interesting gift overnight on the ODU campus. The house that Team Tidewater, which includes HU architecture students and engineering students from ODU, has  designed for the past two years arrived in four parts to the ODU campus.

At around 7:30 a.m. this morning a crane lifted each section of the Solar Decathlon unit off of flatbed trucks and onto concrete foundation blocks. Each piece was fitted together and the roof was lifted off of the truck and placed on the top.

The home is located on the lawn across 48th Street from the ODU Student Recreation Center.

Members of the Solar Decathlon team will spend the rest of the spring and summer doing construction on the home. The home which is officially called Unit 6 Unplugged will be disassembled once complete and moved to the National Mall's West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C.

The competition, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, takes place on the National Mall throughout Sept. 23 through Oct. 2. Team Tidewater is among 20 university teams that entered the competition and are expected to design, build and operate the most affordable, attractive, effective and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

Team Tidewater has focused their efforts on the local urban environment. Expanding on the goals of the DOE, to create a marketable and sustainable building that members of the community can afford.

For additional information on Team Tidewater, visit their site http://www.teamtidewaterva.org/


Noel Harrison, HU architecture student and member of Team Tidewater in the model kitchen.


Unit 6 Unplugged
- Naima A. Gethers

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