Participatory Research for the Evaluation of Satisfaction with Solar Decathlon Competitions: A Survey Analysis

With its first edition held in 2002 organized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon is a university competition focused on training the next generation of architects and engineers with the aim of spreading the concept of efficient houses powered by the sun, fostering a more sustainable and efficient world. To date, 18 competitions have been held around the world with approximately 291 teams, involving thousands of students, professors, organizers, visitors, etc. With almost two decades of history, there is no information on the performance of competitions in the eyes of those who have gone through this experience. This study, developed in the Annex 74 “Competition and Living Lab Platform” of the International Energy Agency’s Energy in Building and Communities Technology Collaboration Program, seeks to provide insight into the experience of former decathletes, faculties, organizers, and professionals who have attended some of the competitions held so far. To reach this objective, a worldwide survey was conducted in 2020 and an analysis of the responses was carried out. With this information, it is possible to assess the performance of Solar Decathlon competitions and associated events in order to improve them.

Everything But the Building, Project Organisation, First Light House, Solar Decathlon, 2011

<p>This thesis is a reflection on Victoria University and New Zealand’s entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011, First Light. Beginning with a proposal in November 2009, the project team would spend the next 24 months developing the response. Through the use of organisational charts and discussion this thesis details and documents the complex development that occurred in the project structure across 24 months that encompassed the project entry through to the final competition in Washington D.C., identifying and highlighting the challenges faced by the project team and how the team responded. Also highlighting the success the team had outside of the built form, documenting achievements in the Communications, Public Relations and Sponsorship. In doing so this thesis provides a record of achievement and provides a road map and precedent for future endeavors of this nature.</p>

Building at the Speed of Light: Prefabrication, Transport, and Assembly

<p>This thesis will examine the logistical strategies and construction techniques used in the making of the First Light house. First Light was the 2011 team entered by Victoria University of Wellington to compete in the US Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon. The team is largely comprised of students and staff in Architecture and the Building Sciences, but also spans to include students from; Design, Landscape Architecture, Marketing and Communications, Tourism Management, and Commerce. The competition took place in September of 2011 and marked the culmination of a two year period of development within the University. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy efficient, and attractive. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2012) The Solar Decathlon has established a very focused and complex brief that, due to its competitive nature, demands an extremely high level of logistical and technical innovation. It captures many of the core issues that architects and engineers are facing today. These issues are centred on energy efficiency, energy production, affordability, and the making of a more liveable and sustainable built environment.</p>

Everything But the Building, Project Organisation, First Light House, Solar Decathlon, 2011

<p>This thesis is a reflection on Victoria University and New Zealand’s entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011, First Light. Beginning with a proposal in November 2009, the project team would spend the next 24 months developing the response. Through the use of organisational charts and discussion this thesis details and documents the complex development that occurred in the project structure across 24 months that encompassed the project entry through to the final competition in Washington D.C., identifying and highlighting the challenges faced by the project team and how the team responded. Also highlighting the success the team had outside of the built form, documenting achievements in the Communications, Public Relations and Sponsorship. In doing so this thesis provides a record of achievement and provides a road map and precedent for future endeavors of this nature.</p>

Building at the Speed of Light: Prefabrication, Transport, and Assembly

<p>This thesis will examine the logistical strategies and construction techniques used in the making of the First Light house. First Light was the 2011 team entered by Victoria University of Wellington to compete in the US Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon. The team is largely comprised of students and staff in Architecture and the Building Sciences, but also spans to include students from; Design, Landscape Architecture, Marketing and Communications, Tourism Management, and Commerce. The competition took place in September of 2011 and marked the culmination of a two year period of development within the University. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy efficient, and attractive. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2012) The Solar Decathlon has established a very focused and complex brief that, due to its competitive nature, demands an extremely high level of logistical and technical innovation. It captures many of the core issues that architects and engineers are facing today. These issues are centred on energy efficiency, energy production, affordability, and the making of a more liveable and sustainable built environment.</p>

Inside the First Light House: Interior Design for New Zealand’s Entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011

<p>This thesis documents a two year journey to design and build a most unconventional kiwi bach. It reports on the applied research undertaken in order to meet the specific requirements of a particular construction project: the development of a transportable, modular, demountable, entirely solar-powered house built in New Zealand to compete in the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon, held in Washington DC. This challenge was initially taken on by a small team of undergraduate students with very little previous experience in the construction process. The team faced a set of technical and logistical hurdles that would have been daunting for even the most experienced practitioner to negotiate, let alone a group for whom an architectural career was just beginning. Such challenges included: - Creating a house design that would comply with two sets of building codes, endure 18,000 kilometres of transport over two months, expedite assembly by a team of unskilled labourers, and enable comfortable inhabitation after seven days; - Optimising the thermal performance and liveability of one building for two climates in two hemispheres; - Using architecture, landscape and interior design to explain New Zealand and its lifestyle to an American audience of 200,000; - Realising an entire and complex project that required 100% external funding and in-kind support from as-yet unknown parties. By predisposition, then, the project was not going to be simple: very little of the process and very few of the construction details were going to be standard in any way. This thesis focuses on the critical design developments of the house interior, from a hypothetical design to the full-scale assembly of a ‘kiwi bach’ in the heart of Washington DC. The research and outcomes presented here are not necessarily all precedents for future building projects, but rather ‘best-fit’ solutions for the highly particular and constrained design situation brought about by the interaction of the range of logistical, legislative and economic controls, the dynamics of the wider team, and the demands of the Solar Decathlon competition. The project as a whole can, and should, act as a valid precedent for future architectural projects with regard to research into modular construction, prefabrication, and the collaborative building process. The students that were involved will embark on their professional careers with the Solar Decathlon experience as a foundation for their future contribution to the construction industry.</p>

Inside the First Light House: Interior Design for New Zealand’s Entry into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011

<p>This thesis documents a two year journey to design and build a most unconventional kiwi bach. It reports on the applied research undertaken in order to meet the specific requirements of a particular construction project: the development of a transportable, modular, demountable, entirely solar-powered house built in New Zealand to compete in the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon, held in Washington DC. This challenge was initially taken on by a small team of undergraduate students with very little previous experience in the construction process. The team faced a set of technical and logistical hurdles that would have been daunting for even the most experienced practitioner to negotiate, let alone a group for whom an architectural career was just beginning. Such challenges included: - Creating a house design that would comply with two sets of building codes, endure 18,000 kilometres of transport over two months, expedite assembly by a team of unskilled labourers, and enable comfortable inhabitation after seven days; - Optimising the thermal performance and liveability of one building for two climates in two hemispheres; - Using architecture, landscape and interior design to explain New Zealand and its lifestyle to an American audience of 200,000; - Realising an entire and complex project that required 100% external funding and in-kind support from as-yet unknown parties. By predisposition, then, the project was not going to be simple: very little of the process and very few of the construction details were going to be standard in any way. This thesis focuses on the critical design developments of the house interior, from a hypothetical design to the full-scale assembly of a ‘kiwi bach’ in the heart of Washington DC. The research and outcomes presented here are not necessarily all precedents for future building projects, but rather ‘best-fit’ solutions for the highly particular and constrained design situation brought about by the interaction of the range of logistical, legislative and economic controls, the dynamics of the wider team, and the demands of the Solar Decathlon competition. The project as a whole can, and should, act as a valid precedent for future architectural projects with regard to research into modular construction, prefabrication, and the collaborative building process. The students that were involved will embark on their professional careers with the Solar Decathlon experience as a foundation for their future contribution to the construction industry.</p>

The 10 Day Bach: A Net Zero Home

<p>Held every two years in Washington DC and run by the US Department of Energy the Solar Decathlon is a competition that challenges architecture and engineering students from all over the world to come up with new and innovative ways to design and construct low energy homes. For the first time in the competition’s history a team from New Zealand was selected to compete in the 2011 competition. This thesis documents the design process of the First Light house from concept to construction focusing on the relationship between energy and architecture in a New Zealand home designed for the Solar Decathlon. The challenge for the young architects and engineers competing in the competition is to develop ways of reducing energy consumption and to raise awareness of the energy saving benefits of highly efficient home design to the public. Despite this being the underlying philosophy, this thesis suggests that the competition is structured in a way that rewards technology over passive design innovation in architecture. A typical Solar Decathlon house is epitomized by a large solar array generating the power needing to run an oversized mechanical system. The New Zealand entry challenges this trend with the design of a home that is focused on ways to improve passive strategies for reducing energy use first before relying on technology. The question is whether a home designed with this philosophy in mind can still meet the strict requirements set out in the ten contests embedded in the Solar Decathlon? Designing a home to meet these requirements was also, in many ways, contradictory to the house’s philosophy. The conceptual driver of the First Light house was the iconic ‘kiwi bach.’ Commonly defined as “something you built yourself, on land you don’t own, out of materials you borrowed or stole,” the bach gives a unique model of comfort and how people might live in a space. Its values are associated with a relationship with the outdoors, a focus on the social aspects of the home and a simple use of technology. As the project developed it was also apparent ‘the bach’, if it were used all year round, could become a symbol for the current state of many New Zealand homes; cold, damp, unhealthy and wasteful of energy. Finding ways to improve this while maintaining the essence of the bach became one of the major motivations throughout the design process. The challenge with this was that the goals associated with designing a ‘kiwi bach’ for a New Zealand climate were, in many ways, conflicting with the requirements of the Solar Decathlon competition. Using comprehensive thermal modelling the First Light house was designed as a net zero energy home that could meet the requirements of two quite unique briefs for two distinctly different climates. Throughout this thesis the often contradictory relationship between the First Light house as a Solar Decathlon entry and the First Light house as an energy efficient ‘kiwi bach’ is explained. Broken into three parts the thesis looks at the passive design of the home and the optimization of the building envelope through thermal modelling, the active side of the design and the generation of solar energy and finally documents the actual performance of the house both in Wellington and in Washington DC during the competition.</p>

The 10 Day Bach: A Net Zero Home

<p>Held every two years in Washington DC and run by the US Department of Energy the Solar Decathlon is a competition that challenges architecture and engineering students from all over the world to come up with new and innovative ways to design and construct low energy homes. For the first time in the competition’s history a team from New Zealand was selected to compete in the 2011 competition. This thesis documents the design process of the First Light house from concept to construction focusing on the relationship between energy and architecture in a New Zealand home designed for the Solar Decathlon. The challenge for the young architects and engineers competing in the competition is to develop ways of reducing energy consumption and to raise awareness of the energy saving benefits of highly efficient home design to the public. Despite this being the underlying philosophy, this thesis suggests that the competition is structured in a way that rewards technology over passive design innovation in architecture. A typical Solar Decathlon house is epitomized by a large solar array generating the power needing to run an oversized mechanical system. The New Zealand entry challenges this trend with the design of a home that is focused on ways to improve passive strategies for reducing energy use first before relying on technology. The question is whether a home designed with this philosophy in mind can still meet the strict requirements set out in the ten contests embedded in the Solar Decathlon? Designing a home to meet these requirements was also, in many ways, contradictory to the house’s philosophy. The conceptual driver of the First Light house was the iconic ‘kiwi bach.’ Commonly defined as “something you built yourself, on land you don’t own, out of materials you borrowed or stole,” the bach gives a unique model of comfort and how people might live in a space. Its values are associated with a relationship with the outdoors, a focus on the social aspects of the home and a simple use of technology. As the project developed it was also apparent ‘the bach’, if it were used all year round, could become a symbol for the current state of many New Zealand homes; cold, damp, unhealthy and wasteful of energy. Finding ways to improve this while maintaining the essence of the bach became one of the major motivations throughout the design process. The challenge with this was that the goals associated with designing a ‘kiwi bach’ for a New Zealand climate were, in many ways, conflicting with the requirements of the Solar Decathlon competition. Using comprehensive thermal modelling the First Light house was designed as a net zero energy home that could meet the requirements of two quite unique briefs for two distinctly different climates. Throughout this thesis the often contradictory relationship between the First Light house as a Solar Decathlon entry and the First Light house as an energy efficient ‘kiwi bach’ is explained. Broken into three parts the thesis looks at the passive design of the home and the optimization of the building envelope through thermal modelling, the active side of the design and the generation of solar energy and finally documents the actual performance of the house both in Wellington and in Washington DC during the competition.</p>

EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF A VIRTUAL DESIGN STUDIO ON ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING DESIGNS: THE CASE OF THE U.S. SOLAR DECATHLON DESIGN CHALLENGE

ABSTRACT Ongoing global architectural agendas span climate change, energy, a carbon-neutral society, human comfort, COVID-19, social justice, and sustainability. An architecture studio allows architecture students to learn how to solve complicated environmental issues through integrated thinking and a design process. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Design Challenge enables them to broaden their analytic perspectives on numerous subjects and strengthen their integrated thinking of environmental impacts, resilience, sustainability, and well-being. However, the unprecedented impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic transformed the physical studio-based design education system into an online-based learning environment. Mandatory social distancing by the global COVID-19 pandemic restricted interactive discussions and face-to-face collaborations for the integrated zero-energy building design process, which requires features of architecture, engineering, market analysis, durability and resilience, embodied environmental quality, integrated performance, occupant experience, comfort and environmental quality, energy performance, and presentation. This study emphasizes the educational effectiveness of virtual design studios as a part of the discourse on architectural pedagogy of zero-energy building (ZEB) design through integrated designs, technological theories, and analytic skills. The survey results of ten contests show educational achievement with over 90% of the highest positive tendency in the categories of embodied environmental quality and comfort and environmental quality, whereas the positive tendency of educational achievement in the categories of integrated performance, energy performance, and presentation were lower than 70%. The reason for the low percentage of simulation utilization and integrated performance was the lack of a proper understanding of and experience with ZEB simulations and evaluations for undergraduate students. Although VDS is not an ideal pedagogical system for the iterative design critique process, it can support the learning of the value of architectural education, including integrative design thinking, problem-solving skills, numerical simulation techniques, and communicable identities through online discussions and feedback during the COVID-19 pandemic.