Project Description
FROM THE NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY:
In 2012, Super-Storm Sandy showed that new models for
housing that meet the needs of a high-density urban environment are desperately
needed. A team of approximately 60 City Tech students is contributing their solution
in a net-zero energy model home, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s
2015 Solar Decathlon international competition. The model home—built on a
donated site at the Brooklyn Navy Yard—will be shipped to California at the end
of this month for the final phase of the competition. After the competition,
City Tech will donate the retrofitted model home to a disabled veteran.
City
Tech’s team was selected as one of 20 student teams worldwide to compete in the
two-year Solar Decathlon process to build solar-powered, energy efficient
houses that combine affordability, innovation and design excellence. The
College’s team, called Team DURA (Diverse, Urban, Resilient, Adaptable),
created the DURA house—a stackable design to provide relief after catastrophic
storms that can also be used for mobile and low-income housing in urban
areas—using materials never before used in the United States.
“A
lot of our work has been inspired by our location,” said decathlete Evgenia
Gorovaya, a sophomore studying environmental planning and math. “The qualities
of diversity and being urban go hand-in-hand because City Tech is one of the
most diverse colleges in the United States. And a lot of different mindsets
went into developing our design.”
The DURA house design was developed through a
multi-pronged approach: a hybrid of passive and active systems that can adapt
to various configurations. Super-insulation, strategic window opening sizes and
locations, an exceptionally tight envelope, and a smart mechanical system that
harvests waste heat, combine to optimize performance and maximize occupant
comfort for net-zero, affordable living in a dense, diverse environment. The
home is adaptively designed with an open floor plan to allow for a greater
range of flexibility for multiple configurations.
Team DURA students represent a wide
range of departments at City Tech including Construction Management & Civil
Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Electrical
Engineering Technology, Chemical Technology, Biological Sciences, Communication
Design, Hospitality Management, Architectural Technology and Entertainment
Technology. Team members also come from various CUNY colleges through the CUNY
Service Corps program.
“The Solar Decathlon has been wonderful journey from the beginning—when
students asked if it was possible to do something so ambitious—to the present—where
we find ourselves collaborating with industry leaders and putting the final
touches on the house,” said Professor Alexander Aptekar, Department
of Architectural Technology. “Our
students have grown so much both professionally and with their confidence over
the course of the project.”
The only
team from New York City, Team DURA is competing with those from Yale
University, Oregon Institute of Technology, SUNY, University of Florida,
National University of Singapore, The University of Texas/ Austin, Technische
Universitaet Muenchen, University of California/Davis, University of
California/Irvine, Vanderbilt University, and University of Roma Tor Vergata,
among others.