One of the key goals of the Solar Decathlon is to raise awareness among the general public about renewable energy and energy efficiency, and how solar energy technologies can reduce energy usage. One of the primary ways this is achieved is through public tours of the individual houses, including the North House.  There were a few questions that we, Team Ontario / BC receive quite often during tours - the questions and answers are documented here:

What is the total photovoltaic capacity of the house?

The total capacity is 14 kW.  This can be broken down to 8.3 from the Roof, 2.1 on the East Façade, 2.1 on the West Façade, and 1.5 on the South Façade.

How do the exterior blinds work?

The exterior blinds work with the highly insulated glass windows to accept heat from the sun in the winter, and reject heat during the warmer months.  They are automated using data from sensors on the interior and exterior of the building, the location of the building, the time of day and the time of year.  The user can override this optimized automated system according to their preference.  During inclement weather, the blinds are designed to go to the horizontal tilt position when the wind speed reaches 8m/s and when wind speeds reach 12 m/s they retract fully.

What is the purpose of the ceiling?

The ceiling is a sculptural solution for light diffusion and sound absorption.  The form helps to loosely define the spaces in the open living area.  There are 5248 individual cells of varying sizes.

Maun greets visitors as they arrive at the entrance to the North House (left). Visitors take a break on the deck after their tour through the house (right).

Tuesday was School day at the Solar Decathlon! Lindsey describes the samples to a group of students (left). A school group being quizzed on the basics of solar energy (right).

Our neighbourhood on the mall. Penn State’s Natural Fusion house is located to the left, and Rice University’s ZEROW House is on the right.

Humphrey describes the retractable bed to visitors (left). Aya discusses the densepack (right).

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