DC Habitat & the 2011 Solar Decathlon
OCTOBER 2011 UPDATE:
The 2011 Solar Decathlon came to a close on October 2nd, with our Empowerhouse model ranking 13th overall. The Empowerhouse team tied with Purdue University for first place in the Affordability Contest, a great win for DC Habitat and our partners. We are taking what we've learned from our work on this project to task as we design and build passive townhomes in our Ivy City development.
Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. is partnering with Parsons The New School of Design, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, and Stevens Institute for Technology, in addition to D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development, to build carbon neutral duplex homes in the Deanwood neighborhood of Northeast D.C. as part of the 2011 Solar Decathlon. DC Habitat will then sell these two units at below-market costs and affordable loan terms to low-income DC families who will call this model for sustainable housing home. We are calling this collaborative initiative Empowerhouse.
Empowerhouse will create a new design standard for sustainable housing – one that will be replicable around the world. The innovative approach we have chosen reflects commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, civic engagement, and design innovation.
Established in 2002, the Solar Decathlon is a biennial event overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy, in which university teams from around the globe compete to design and build the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Entries will be exhibited at Potomac Park near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from September 23 to October 2, 2011.
Artist's rendition of a carbon neutral Habitat home in Deanwood
The House Design
Our house will consist of two symbiotic modules that will unite to form a semi-detached duplex. Each module will be sustainable on its own, but they will achieve peak energy efficiency when they are joined together. The resulting duplex will comfortably house two families.
Our home design is meant to accommodate the future lifestyle goals of an urban couple with an annual income of about $50,000 – in hopes of perpetuating our mission to provide all of our neighbors with safe, comfortable, affordable housing. The model begins as a 1,000 sq. ft. one-bedroom home, with a 300 sq. ft. accessible roof-top outdoor space that can be expanded into two additional bedrooms and/or a family living space. In the near term, this rooftop space can be utilized as a garden, which has the capability to sustain plant life for ornamental and edible means.
The open floor plan includes a kitchen, dining room and living room that flow into one another, creating an intimate environment for both family interaction and entertaining. The sustainable design will enable a give and take relationship between the house and inhabitants.
Sensors for heat, lighting and air quality will react to the customized bodily requirements the occupants place on the space. And through a web platform, the inhabitants will be able to evaluate the energy usage quickly.
Read more about the initiative and see additional photos at the Empowerhouse website.
