VIDEO: Wash U Concrete House Provides Solid Learning
Date Posted: October 16, 2017
Posted In: News, Organizations,
Team WashU’s CRETE House tied for second in the Architecture contest of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2017. In its first-ever foray into the Decathlon the team didn’t fare as well as some of other other teams hailing from as far away as Switzerland and as near as Rolla. But the Bears scored high in knowledge gained, according to one teacher.
“Final scores are in . . . and I could not be prouder of our students!!!,” Steve Bannes, professor and program director — Graduate Studies in Construction Management at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote on Facebook.
Bannes, who is a member of the board of directors of Construction Forum STL and the Construction Forum Education Foundation, lead the construction management aspect of the team’s effort.
“The lessons learned given this two year design-build project, and our first time competing were many. It is a remarkable achievement to have made it to Denver and to have competed,” he wrote.
Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. Billions of tons are produced annually.
But for the 2017 Solar Decathlon, “we wanted to demonstrate a new approach,” said Dylan Weber Callahan, a master’s candidate in both architecture and construction management at Washington University in St. Louis. “We wanted to show that concrete could be used in more sustainable ways.”
Over the last two years, more than 100 students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the International Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (InCEES) have worked with industry partners to design, fabricate, and now finally construct CRETE House.
The solar-powered, 995-square-foot residence—which is currently being assembled on the University’s North Campus—is built almost entirely from pre-cast concrete. Water coils embedded within the floors and ceiling, rather than a traditional HVAC system, provide heating and cooling. Large gutters foster shade and direct run-off to a hydroponic garden capable of feeding residents for much of the year.
“Concrete is extremely durable, so we have a very resilient house,” said Ethan Miller, likewise a master’s candidate in Architecture and Construction Management. “We also took into account, in the steel connections, seismic forces, so that this house will not only be able to withstand tornados and hurricanes, but also earthquakes.”
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the biennial Solar Decathlon challenges university teams from around the world to design and build full-size, energy-efficient houses. This year’s competition will take place Oct. 5-15 in Denver.
Students will spend the next several weeks at North Campus, completing initial assembly and testing and refining systems. In September, they’ll take the house back apart, drive the components to Denver, and reassemble the house on site. After the competition, CRETE House will be permanently installed at the university’s Tyson Research Center as a residence for visiting scientists.
“Concrete is typically used on larger commercial projects,” Callahan concluded. Yet the material’s durability, thermal properties and ubiquity could also hold the key to making residential construction more sustainable.
“We wanted to create a catalyst for how concrete might be used more efficiently in the future.”