What do you get when you combine the sun's energy with experts in the fields of design, architecture, engineering, and marketing? A solar powered building financed by sponsors, of course. In the case of the Solar Decathlon, that building is a house.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Solar Decathlon is an event that seeks out the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar powered house design among competitors. Teams of college students work to stretch every watt of electricity absorbed through their houses' solar panels. The Solar Decathlon is meant to challenge those involved to reexamine views on energy and its impact on our day-to-day lives in different ways. The Solar "Decathletes" are responsible for fundraising, planning, designing, analyzing, redesigning, building, and improving their homes. The aim is to build a home that is comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, while still energy and space efficient.

Pittsburgh Synergy is one of 18 teams competing in the Solar Decathlon this year. Steven Lee, professor in the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture, leads the team this year. This is the second year of the competition - the inaugural Decathlon was held in 2002 - and the second year Carnegie Mellon has participated.

The Pittsburgh Synergy design team is comprised of students and faculty from Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. In addition to these institutions, the Student Green Building Coalition, a group of college students in Pittsburgh, has supported the team throughout the project. The name of the 2005 team, "Pittsburgh Synergy," reflects the ideology of their multi-disciplinary effort to realize sustainable urban housing.

But why get involved in an event like the Solar Decathlon, which takes up 20-40 hours a week and gives little academic credit? While participating in the Solar Decathlon, students have an opportunity to put what they have learned in class to practical use. Over the months leading up to the actual competition, the Decathletes use high-tech materials in ingenious ways, learn how to raise funds, collect supplies, talk to contractors, and finally build their solar houses.

Jeremy Forsythe, a fifth-year architecture major and one of the four people who have been involved with the project from the beginning, appreciated the hands-on nature of the project. "It's a phenomenal learning experience. Drawing something in class is way different from doing it in the real world. I have a more respectful outlook… Plus it's a ton of fun.

"I would call myself a responsible citizen," continued Forsythe. "These concepts should be applied because they are smart. It's about living in harmony with your surroundings. It reduces cost and creates a more pleasant environment [within the structure]. The intangible benefits are innumerable."

Said fellow Decathlete BHA senior Diane Loviglio, "I got involved with the Solar Decathlon because I am very passionate about sustainable design; we need to use our resources wisely."

Loviglio got involved in the project/contest in the fall of 2004 when she approached Lee, the professor in charge of the project. She served as the sustainability coordinator, which involved deciding what materials to use, from the kind of wood and paint to the mixture of concrete. Loviglio was also the development chair, which required her to work at fundraising.

Pittsburgh Synergy's entry was designed with five principals in mind: 1. support a high quality of living and home business; 2. model the zero-energy house concept; 3. reduce environmental impact; 4. create urban in-fill; and, 5. follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Students). The 2002 Decathlon team developed the first four and the current team added the fifth. But the overall guiding principle of the team was to create a dwelling in line with sustainable design.

The design process was completed in three phases. In phase one, students were divided into three teams to develop and explore various designs. One design of the three was chosen and elements from the other two were worked into it to make the final design. The second phase was development. In this phase, the mechanical wall (the "spine") of the house was designed. The third and final phase of the process is building the house.

The house has a flexible floor plan that is exemplified by the loft that can serve as a bedroom or office. The focus of the house is a mechanical wall that contains all the service elements of the house. The service elements are a second-story office/guest bedroom, landscaped roof, back porch, and operable exterior shutter that provides shade and insulation. The wall provides utilities to the whole house, thus serving as a unity of the private and public parts of the home. The house also features a generous back porch and balconies on the second floor.

This afternoon, the Pittsburgh Synergy house began its move to the site of competition on the National Mall in Washington D.C. All of the competing houses will form a "solar village" that will be open to the public for touring October 7 through 16 (closed to the public on October 12). The winner of the competition will be announced on October 14. When the house returns to Pittsburgh, it will become the home of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research.

20-25 people will go to D.C. with the Pittsburgh Synergy house over the three-week period. One of these is Loviglio, who will be in D.C. from October 6-14, giving tours to the 300,000 predicted plus visitors and performing all basic functions of life in the home.

While in D.C., the Solar Decathletes are judged in 10 contests worth a possible 100 points each, excepting architecture which is worth 200. The team and its house will be evaluated in the areas of dwelling, documentation, communications, comfort zone, appliances, hot water, lighting, energy balance, and getting around. The last category, in part, refers to the fact that, in addition to be livable and aesthetically pleasing, the houses must be able to power an electric car.

On October 8, Carnegie Mellon will be driving a charter bus to the National Mall in Washington D.C. to tour the 18 Solar Decathlon houses. The bus departs at 6:30 a.m. and returns at 11:30 p.m. A roundtrip ticket costs $25. To place a reservation (as soon as possible, as seats are limited), e-mail Diane Loviglio at dlovigli@andrew.cmu.edu. The trip is made possible because of generous contributions from the Student Dormitory Council and the Steinbrenner Institute.

For more information about the trip, the team, and the contest, visit http://www.pittsburghsynergy.org.

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