theBusheys.com > Solar Decathlon 2005 > Cornell University
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| Team Website | http://cusd.cornell.edu/ |
| Systems | http://cusd.cornell.edu/house/systems.html |
Cornell University: This was one of our favorites. It was well designed and well crafted. Cornell didn't participate in the first solar decathlon, so they did very good with second place for their first try. The main (engineering) feature of their house was a kind of rotating heat-pump:
| The key component of Cornell’s ERV [energy recovery ventilator] is a rotary wheel composed of silica gel-the same material as in the little packets inside food and other packaging. The silica gel transfers heat and humidity between the home’s fresh intake and its exhaust as a means to precondition outdoor air before it reaches the air handler. This preconditioning can drastically reduce the energy consumption of the heating/cooling system. |
This interior was one of the best we saw. A lot of bamboo, and custom, reconfigurable furniture designed by the students. The back on the chair comes off to make an end table. Windows by Sugarcreek Industries.
Detail of the bamboo flooring. Nice transition between interior & exterior. And you can also see the end table. Those doors are Nanawall folding doors that completely fold away to create one large opening.
| NanaWall System - The large NanaWall system acts as a mediator between the interior and exterior of the house. In folding the doors away, the homeowner would immediately greatly expand their living area into the house patio. |
The exterior was a beautiful dark wood siding ("victory"). You can also see a piece of the Nanawall system here, and the solar hot water, evacuated glass tubes on the roof. (sun dusk solar).
Detail of exterior siding.