The goal of this studio is to design a compact, fully solar-powered home for the 2009 International Solar Decathlon Competition. For the past 8 years, the bi-annual Decathlon has drawn teams from architecture and engineering schools around the world to both design and build a solar-powered home and then exhibit it on the Mall in Washington D.C. During this time the public has the opportunity to learn more about sustainable design and construction while the judges review each project’s merits.

CCA is pleased to partner with the engineering department of Santa Clara University for the 2009 competition. The SCU student team placed third in the 2007 competition with a technologically sophisticated design. However, they competed without help from an architecture department and see the need for integrating architectural design early into the project and have approached CCA as a design partner. This advanced studio at CCA will serve as the initial design phase of the 2-year project. At the end of the term a number of designs will be selected to move on to the design development phase over the summer and fall. The students responsible for these designs will be paid over the summer to further develop their ideas and work with SCU students to more fully integrate the architectural design with the complex engineering goals of the competition. If all goes well, one of the designs from this studio will be built by a coalition of students from both schools over the summer of 2009 and will be transported to Washington D.C. for the competition.

As the initial design phase for this 2-year project, the objective of the studio is to provide the decathlon team with realistic, yet radical, designs that investigate new ways of designing, building, and most importantly, living sustainably. Although the final built house will be no large than 700sf, we will research how networks of these units can create more sustainable communities. We will explore the use of parametric modeling in creating designs that are adaptable to various design criteria. Specifically, we will learn how to leverage the power of parametric models with the help of the performance modeling software Ecotect. By accurately modeling the energy use of the designs we will be able to effectively feed that data back into the design model throughout the term, creating a feedback loop between the geometric model and its predicted energy use. Finally, we will investigate prefabrication and digital fabrication strategies that will make the construction process more efficient in both time and energy as well as allow the project to be built in California and reassembled in Washington for the competition.

Throughout the term the CCA design team will meet with the student and faculty team at Santa Clara University for engineering consultations in structural, mechanical, and electrical issues. In addition, guest lecturers will visit to train the studio in parametric modeling and performance modeling. There will be a number of field trips to local and regional sites to learn more about cutting edge solar technologies as well as prefabrication techniques. Students will be encouraged to independently research new materials and sustainable technologies in the development of their design project.

This studio is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn more about sustainable design and to have the potential to see their design built on the nation’s capital. It will require an intense amount of work as it attempts to integrate many technological issues ranging from parametric design and energy analysis to advanced construction techniques. However, it is a great opportunity to collaborate with students outside your specific discipline and to work together towards a more sustainable future.