Purdue solar home ready to be judged
Kevin Rodgers puts finishing touches on Purdue's INhome solar house on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Rodgers, project manager for INhome, is a graduate student in the College of Technology from Memphis. (Purdue University photo/Jim Schenke)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After being built, then rebuilt twice, it's showtime for Purdue University's INhome solar house.
The home, designed and built by Purdue students, is entered in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2011 competition. Judging begins Friday (Sept. 23) in Washington, D.C.
Since spring, the house has been built, taken apart and rebuilt on a site north of Purdue West shopping center; dismantled and taken by truck to Washington; and finally rebuilt in a week on the National Mall's West Potomac Park.
Nineteen teams, including four from outside the United States, have designed and built and are operating affordable, attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered homes for the competition. The houses will be open for public tours in Washington through Oct. 2. The winner will be announced Oct. 1.
Work on INhome has involved more than 200 students from six colleges and schools: Technology, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Agriculture, Krannert, and Health and Human Sciences.
According to DOE competition rules, the house must be net-zero for energy consumption, which means it must produce at least as much energy as it uses. A team will be penalized if a house appraises for more than $250,000. The house also must not be more than 1,000 square feet, not including the garage. Purdue's two-bedroom, one-bath house is 984 square feet. It features an open-plan kitchen-living-dining area and has a utility room.
The solar houses will be judged in 10 areas: architecture, market appeal, engineering, communications, affordability, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment and energy balance.
Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu
Source: McKenna Regan, head of marketing and communications for INhome, 574-274-4249, regan0@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: Video B-roll and still photos from the INhome construction in Washington, D.C., are available at ftp://news69.uns.purdue.edu/Public/ in a directory named SolarDecathlon. For more information, including student hometowns, contact Jim Schenke at 765-237-7296 or Judith Austin at 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu