Fulfilling a Purpose
Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Why does the Solar Decathlon exist? To challenge the student competitors — the "Solar Decathletes" — to think in new ways about energy and how it impacts our everyday lives. To provide those students with a way to show and tell the world what they have learned. To push research and development of energy efficiency and energy production technologies. And to encourage all of us to act responsibly when making energy choices.
Energy. A Precious Commodity.
In our daily lives, we use enormous amounts of energy. The world consumes about 450 quadrillion (quads) British thermal units (Btu) of energy each year. About 86% of that use comes from burning fossil fuels—petroleum, coal, and natural gas. The United States consumes about 100 quads of energy per year, which is based on about 85% fossil fuel use. The residential building sector accounts for about 21% of the U.S. consumption total.
So the world uses 450 quads of energy each year, but what does this really mean? Just how staggering is this number? One Btu of energy is released when red tip of wooden match ignites. A quad of energy is enough power to run all the residential refrigerators in the United States for one year. One hundred quads is about the same amount of energy you would use in gasoline to drive a car around the earth more than 880 million times (assuming 25 miles per gallon).
That's a lot of energy! There are many simple ways to save energy, and many relatively simple ways to generate energy from renewable sources, such as the sun. Solar energy technologies are clean and significantly reduce pollutant emissions versus other options. And solar energy is renewable, so we can count on that energy source as long as the sun shines.
Making a Difference
The Solar Decathletes learn quickly that energy is a precious commodity. The competition places demands on their buildings' energy systems to maintain the house within a certain temperature range, to provide lighting and run appliances, to charge an electric car, and much more. The teams will generate that energy with photovoltaic (also called solar electric) systems to directly produce electricity and with solar thermal systems for space heating and cooling and water heating. To stretch their energy budgets, the students shop for energy-saving appliances and design energy-efficient lighting. They build houses that are insulated properly, so that once the indoor air is heated or cooled, it stays that way longer. And the students create Web sites and offer house tours to share their knowledge. The 10 contests of the Decathlon measure how successfully the students have achieved all of the above.
But the Solar Decathletes go beyond the requirements of the competition. They get excited about the possibilities and experiment with new ways to build houses. They show that they understand the big picture by using recycled materials or building materials based on renewable commodities, such as fast-growing bamboo or birch. They do all of this and manage to build beautifully designed, winning houses at the same time.
|
