University of Kentucky - College of Engineering - Future Students

UK to Compete in International Solar Decathlon

The University of Kentucky is one of only 20 university-led teams from around the world selected to compete in the United States Department of Energy (DOE) 2009 Solar Decathlon. A biennial event, the Solar Decathlon brings together 20 teams in a competition to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Each team's house, which must measure 800 square feet in size and use only sunlight for power, is then assembled as part of a weeklong competition and exhibition in Washington, D.C. As part of a solar village on the National Mall, the university teams' houses showcase innovation in solar technology to the general public while concurrently being evaluated for the decathlon.

The houses are judged and scored during this period in 10 different areas related to design, energy efficiency and comfort. An overall winner, considered to have the most energy-efficient and innovatively designed house, will be announced at the end of the event.

UK's team will develop its Simple, Modular, Affordable, Renewable, Transportable, Building, combining Living, Understanding, Energy-efficiency and Sustainability or SMART BLUES house. As part of the project, the student-driven "Blues" Team will ultimately design, fabricate, construct and test their house at the university in preparation for evaluation at the solar village, where they will install their entry for public display in October 2009.

The Blues Team, an interdisciplinary group consisting of students, faculty and staff from six collaborating colleges and 16 centers and departments on the UK campus, was created to execute the decathlon project. The collaborative effort will be led by UK's three principal investigators: Hilary Bryon, lecturer in architecture in the College of Design; Donald Colliver, associate professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at the College of Agriculture; and Gregory Luhan, associate dean for research at the College of Design. Other colleges with faculty serving on the project are the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Communication and Information Studies, the College of Engineering and the College of Medicine.

For more information on the "Open Ideas Competition," refer to the team Web site www.uky.edu/solarhouse.

For a list of all 20 teams participating in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, visit the DOE site online at www.solardecathlon.org/2009.html.

To see a list of all the UK faculty participants, visit the UK Public Relations Web site