Beausoleil Solar Home

UL enters International Solar Decathlon

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The University of Louisiana School of Architecture and Design has been selected as one of only 20 teams from around the world to participate in the international design/build competition called the Solar Decathlon.

The Solar Decathlon is a competition for teams to design, build and operate an attractive, effective and energy-efficient solar powered house. In late September 2009, university teams will join the competition’s organizers and sponsors in Washington D.C. to assemble a “solar village” on the National Mall.

The U.S Dept. of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is the primary sponsor of the competition. UL’s team is a collaboration between the School of Architecture and Design and the College of Engineering. Students will design and build the BeauSoleil Solar Home over the next two years. Louisiana System Built Homes is a partner in the project.

Details of the project will be outlined in a Feb. 7 press conference at Louisiana System Built Homes in St. Martinville (Old Fruit of the Loom Building), 6261 Hwy. 31.

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Not bad :)

  UL will be one of 20 universities from around the world competing over the next two years to build an affordable, self-sufficient solar home, organized by the U.S. Department of Energy for its fourth annual Solar Decathlon competition.

The project is uniting teachers and students in UL's School of Architecture and Design, and colleges of Engineering and Business. They'll partner with Begneaud Manufacturing and Louisiana System Built Homes in St. Martinville, which was recently endorsed by the insurance industry as Louisiana's only builder of "fortified" homes that go above basic standards for storm safety and energy efficiency.

Forty schools applied from the U.S., Canada and Germany to the DOE's Solar Decathlon competition, which started in 2002. It complements President Bush's Solar America Initiative, which aims to make solar power cost-competitive with traditional forms of electricity by 2015.

"This project epitomizes the university's mission: serving the public," said Mark Zappi, dean of UL's College of Engineering. This is one of many renewable energy projects that Zappi's college has begun pursuing within the past two years. Work on biodiesel, ethanol and synthetic gas is also under way by engineering students and faculty.

"A new mission for us is to utilize the gifts Mother Nature gave to Louisiana - the sunlight, our ability to grow and work the land ... and turn Louisiana into a leader in all forms of energy, not just petroleum."

UL's team will call its home BeauSoleil, which means "Beautiful Sun" in French. While previous schools have built homes for the Decathlon with a blank checkbook, the UL team will focus on making its home a truly affordable prototype for new housing in Louisiana. The state's median household income in 2005 was $36,729, and assuming that increased to $40,000, the maximum cost that's affordable would be $100,000, according to UL's report.

The average Solar Decathlon house size has been 700 square feet, so the average cost would have to be $143 per square foot to be affordable. The team says a prototype goal can be twice that, or $286 per square foot, to achieve market viability.

Students and faculty will spend the next two years designing and building, before the homes are moved to Washington, D.C., in fall 2009 for judging. Set up in a "solar community" in the Washington Mall of monuments, the decathlon judges the architecture, engineering, market viability, communications, comfort, appliances, hot water, lighting, energy balance and transportation. The house must produce enough electricity to run on its own, and enough excess to power an electric car.

The competition also requires teams to cook dinner for neighboring homes. UL Associate Professor W. Geoff Gjertson said his team would "wrap that contest up easily" with a pot of gumbo and a nice Cajun spread.

The 20 schools selected for the competition are Boston Architectural College/Tufts University, Cornell University, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Missouri University of Science and Technology, The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, Rice University, Santa Clara University, Technische Universitat Darmstadt (Germany), Universidad de Puerto Rico, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain), University of Arizona, University of Calgary/SAIT Polytechnic and Mount Royal College (Canada), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Kentucky, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Minnesota, University of Waterloo/Ryserson University/Simon Fraser University (Canada), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

<center>Advertiser

Bob Moser</center>

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UL — A vine-covered trellis over a bedroom deck offers a cool and quiet setting to take in a book.

Solar panels move to track the sun for maximum effect, rainwater is harvested and stored for later use, and a giant garage door-style window can be raised to open the living room completely to the outside.

“We live in Louisiana in flux between indoors and outdoors,” said University of Louisiana architecture student Jeremy Credeur, discussing some of the influences on his home design for the upcoming 2009 Solar Decathlon.

UL is one of 20 teams selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for the international competition.

Credeur’s design was one of 12 on display Friday for an input session to help students combine their best ideas for the project.

<center><p><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/17317904.html?showAll=y&c=y" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>

By RICHARD BURGESS
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The students must design a and build an 800-square-foot, solar-powered home that will be reassembled with the work of the other teams as part of a “solar village” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The designs on display Friday show influences of regional styles — the New Orleans shotgun, the Acadian cottage, the dogtrot — but focus heavily on efficiency.

The homes take full advantage of natural light and have plenty of ventilation to help keep things cool naturally.

Some designs include systems to harvest rainwater for home use and water heaters that use the sun’s warmth rather than electricity.

Efficiency is key, because the competition requires the homes to produce enough solar energy and hot water to power lighting, cooking, clothes washers and dishwashers.

The house also must produce enough extra energy to charge an electric car.

The student home designs will be judged on 10 criteria, including architecture, engineering, ability to produce hot water, comfort, lighting and market appeal.

UL architecture professor Geoff Gjertson said his goal is a solar home that could be reproduced for about $100,000.

“We really want ours to be a marketable prototype for Louisiana,” Gjertson said.

The decathlon team includes students from the departments of architecture, design, engineering and business.

The ULL team will compete against other U.S. teams, as well as others from Spain, Germany and Canada.

The Energy Department awarded ULL $100,000 to design and build the home, and the university is seeking additional money for supplies and travel expenses.

For information on supporting the project, e-mail Gjertson at gjertson@louisiana.edu.


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&nbsp;LAFAYETTE — The University of Louisiana's solar-powered, BeauSoleil home is closer to production as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s international design-build competition, the Solar Decathlon.

The university’s School of Architecture and Design was selected as one of 20 collegiate teams for the international competition that will take place in October 2009 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The BeauSoleil team includes more than 70 UL students and faculty representative of the colleges of arts, sciences, engineering and business.

“We’re excited to take our claim as one of the top 20 universities in the world for sustainable design,” said Gretchen LaCombe Vanicor, a ULL architecture graduate student and the team’s project manager.

<center><p><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/30077884.html?showAll=y&c=y" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>

By MARSHA SILLS
Advocate Acadiana bureau
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This time next year, the team’s 800-square-foot solar-powered cypress-clad home will be assembled on the lawn of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of a “solar village” of homes.

The international competition challenges student designers to design and build a home that’s completely off the grid. The teams are judged in 10 different categories, ranging from architectural elements and how much solar energy is produced, to entertainment provided to “guests.”

On Wednesday, the team continued to move past the design phase to construction of structurally insulated panels for the home began at Louisiana System Built Homes in St. Martinville. The home manufacturing company has offered its support to the team and is interested in producing the house for consumers.

While the team’s prototype will cost about $200,000, the one-bedroom, one-bath design may be marketed to consumers for about $100,000.

The biggest challenge aside from the rules was to make it both affordable and include hurricane-resistant technology, LaCombe Vanicor said.

The structure is built to withstand 140 mph winds and can also be elevated, a major design issue for residents in coastal areas.

The house offers a “Louisiana feel with a modern twist,” said Jeremy Credeur, the students’ team construction manager.

Credeur and other team members explained the home’s design elements during an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday at warehouse space at the United Way of Acadiana’s nonprofit complex.

The prototype is a one-bedroom, one-bath home with a living area and kitchen. The two sides of the house are divided by a transitional, breezeway that can be enclosed. Its doors can be moved around on a square track to create additional living space where needed. When used as an outdoor space, a motorized screen can be rolled down to protect against mosquitoes.

The project is answering a critical need for housing, said Margaret Trahan, executive director of the United Way of Acadiana. The organization is providing the space at a discounted rate, and a $25,000 from the Department of Natural Resources offsets some of the rental expense.

“The BeauSoleil project means affordable housing, which is a need,” especially following the 2005 hurricane season, Trahan said. “We know it has community-wide impact. We know it’s a community-wide effort.”

It also needs continued community-wide support. The team needs about $200,000 more in funding for the project, said Geoff Gjertson, UL Lafayette associate professor of architecture and faculty team coordinator on the project.

For the next few months, while the team finalizes its construction plans, which are due to the competition in December, they’ll also be fund raising and educating the community about sustainable design.

“We want to bring the lessons we’re learning beyond our home and influence the community to be more environmentally responsible,” Vanicor said.

The community will have an opportunity to purchase art for the house during a silent auction set for Oct. 11 through Nov. 14 at Galerie Lafayette.

“Our goal is to bring Louisiana to Washington, D.C.,” Vanicor said.

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At the tailgating Saturday, Jeff Gjertson was there with the Beausoleil Solar Home project. UL was one of 20 schools selected worldwide for the Solar Decathlon in D.C.

Check out the video. It gave me les frissons:

http://ultoday.com/sites/ultoday.com...todayLogo2.jpg

My cousin is one of the student architects working on the project. Family and myself are all trying to make the trip up to DC next year with the school. It will be a fun experience. Especially when UL wins!

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Originally Posted by CajunFun

_ At the tailgating Saturday, Jeff Gjertson was there with the Beausoleil Solar Home project. UL was one of 20 schools selected worldwide for the Solar Decathlon in D.C.

Check out the video. It gave me les frissons:

http://ultoday.com/sites/ultoday.com...todayLogo2.jpg

_

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hey Z--see you included ''world" in your ARCH article--Now let's see along with the Petro Engines that's 2 worlds--not bad!!!! Doc Z seemed pretty pumped about his success!!!!!

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&nbsp; Tour of new Solar Cell System for the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home

DATE: Monday, Feb. 16, 2009

TIME: 1:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Rooftop of Madison Hall

Team members for the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home will conduct introduce and conduct tours of the new test solar cell system for the solar home. Corporate partners along with university officials will view the system onto of Madison Hall. The BeauSoleil array of panels is only the second grid-tied system in Lafayette.

The system is now returning free electricity back to the city and university grid. This system is a scaled-down version of the array which will eventually be placed on the roof of the solar home. Tours will be given of the roof solar panels, the lab equipment connecting the system to the grid and a real-time demonstration of the monitoring system.

CONTACT: Geoff Gjertson, Director for Team BeauSoleil, at 482-5157 or see him at the event.

<center> UL Press Release</center>

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&nbsp;UL — The University of Louisiana is getting a little greener — at least 1,200 watts worth.

On Monday, university researchers and students showed off a solar panel installation that will assist in the development of its BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home project.

For the past year, UL architecture and design students have been working on their plans for the home as part the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon.

The international competition includes 20 university and college teams from around the world to encourage the design and construction of attractive, energy-efficient, solar-powered homes.

<center><p><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/39698562.html?showAll=y&c=y" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>

by MARSHA SILLS
Advocate Acadiana bureau
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In October, the team will travel to Washington, D.C., and assemble its home on the national mall, where teams will create a village of modern, solar-powered homes.

To test the output of their solar panel system, a small, six-paneled solar power system was installed on the roof of Madison Hall on campus where electrical and computer engineering students will monitor its output. Each panel is capable of generating 200 watts.

The panel is a scaled-down version of what will energize BeauSoleil.

The model home will have 39 panels each capable of 200 watts. About 1 p.m. Monday, the smaller panel had generated 693 watts of power.

As part of the competition, the team will be judged in 10 categories, including how much solar energy is produced versus energy used. Teams earn more points if they have net energy.

“We’re aiming to create more energy than we use,” said Gretchen Vanicor, a ULL graduate student and BeauSoleil project manager.

That energy can be directed back to the electric grid and equate to a credit on electric bills. In Lafayette, the practice, known as net metering, enables Lafayette Utilities System customers to receive a credit for feeding unused solar power back into the grid.

Since its installation in December, the panels have generated 233.4 kilowatts/hour, said Robert Henry, UL Lafayette department head of computer and electrical engineering.

That’s equivalent to turning on 707 light bulbs or operating 233 computers, Henry said.

The department will continue to monitor the system’s output after the BeauSoleil project.

That research will affect the university’s future placement of new panels.

ULL President Joseph Savoie said the university is considering adding more systems to its rooftops.

“It won’t be feasible for all of them,” Savoie said. He added that a similar project may be included as part of the pending renovations of Girard Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus.

Students’ participation in the installation of the Madison Hall project could also be duplicated at other buildings, he said.

“It offers practical experience beyond reading about it in a book,” Savoie said.

The next major step for the team is the start of construction.

That will be on March 4, and the public is invited to watch at the studio in the United Way of Acadiana’s nonprofit complex at 215 E. Pinhook Road.


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Originally Posted by NewsCopy

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This tells me we have one helluva University that can compete academically. The nursing side of the University received top accolades for its nursing program. More proof that UL is doing what it is chartered for...education.

Slowly but surely the University is making advances that will bring success that will have far reaching effects.

GEAUX UL ..O...~...O...~.

Earlier this morning, representatives of The UL Student Government Association (SGA) showed up at the work site of the Beau Soleil House to meet with the team and give them a gracious donation. The team talked with SGA earlier in the year and was notified that they would be receiving a donation of $10,000 but were surprised when SGA revealed to them the actual donation today. The SGA Big 3 (President, Vice President, and Treasurer) presented a check for $10,000 at first but then mentioned it wasn't enough and revealed a check for $30,000 instead. After a round of applause and surprised expressions from the Beau Soleil team, The Big 3 said it still wasn't enough and finally revealed the actual donation of $50,000. Witnessing the expressions and applause from the team you could tell the group was more than thankful.

For those of you who are not familiar with Beau Soleil, it is a team comprised of UL students who were chosen to compete in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition. In October, they will be competing against 20 other schools around the world to build a home that is energy-efficient and solar-powered yet attractive at the same time. All of the teams will showcase their house in Washington D.C. where the judging will take place.

Feel free to check out the Beau Soleil website and the promotional video on YouTube.
www.beausoleilhome.org
http://www.youtube.com/user/beausoleilproject

that's pretty legit

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&nbsp; UL - More than a house will be on display on the National Mall in October when University of Louisiana students compete in an international solar home design-build competition.

“This brings UL into the international limelight,” said Dustin Domangue, president of the UL Student Government Association.

The UL team is one of 20 collegiate design teams from across the world selected to compete in the Department of Energy’s biennial Solar Decathlon Oct. 9-18 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Domangue and other student leaders surprised the team with a check for $50,000 Tuesday.

The team travels to Washington with its house in tow, Sept. 25. Tuesday’s donation will help with the team’s travel expenses, said Gretchen Lacombe-Vanicor, project manager.

“This money is going to put us ahead of schedule for the fundraising,” Vanicor said. “It’s an incredible sign of how much the university appreciates what we’re doing. We’ve said from the beginning this project represents our university, our culture and our state.”

The team’s fundraising has been a grassroots effort with donations ranging from $4 on up, said Catherine Guidry, team public relations manager.

“It’s such a relief and weight off our shoulders,” Guidry said as she thanked the student leaders for the donation.

The donation puts the fundraising effort ahead of schedule, but about $50,000 more is still needed, said Geoff Gjertson, UL associate professor of architecture and faculty team coordinator.

<center><p><a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/education/47485707.html?showAll=y&c=y" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>

By MARSHA SILLS
Advocate Acadiana bureau
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The team’s next fundraiser, a golf tournament, will be June 19.

Tuesday’s $50,000 donation is from the SGA budget, which is funded by student fees.

The team anticipated a $10,000 donation from the leaders, but during the presentation, Domangue joked: “We’re politicians and we lie,” as he revealed another check for $30,000.

Team members’ jaws dropped with the revelation. Some mouthed the word, “wow.”

“We’re lying again,” Domangue said as he revealed the true donation amount of $50,000.

“This is incredible,” Vanicor said.

The sounds of drills and hammering stopped for about 30 minutes Tuesday for the ceremony. But after the presentation and thanks, team members set to work again.

Vanicor said Tuesday’s agenda included work on the exterior finishes of the home, including cypress siding, metal roof and the installation of doors.

The BeauSoleil’s team home is 800 square feet and will draw its energy from rooftop solar panels. The design also includes regional elements, such as cypress and the use of a transitional porch that can be enclosed or left open. Rainwater will be harvested and heated by the solar power.

The homes will be judged in 10 areas: architecture, market viability, engineering, lighting design, communications, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment and net metering.

The project is on schedule and the house should be complete by Aug. 24, The team will then reassemble the house to simulate the round-the-clock assembly that will be required on the mall.

Gjertson said the team has a span of four days to reassemble the 800-square-foot house in Washington.

By the time the house makes it to Washington, D.C., the team estimates that at least 200 students would have contributed to the project in some way.

At least 15 students are working on the project full-time this summer, Gjertson said.

Some students are earning credit and some are paid interns, he added.

Students work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

“This is a commitment,” he said of the students’ work.

To keep up with the team’s progress, visit http://www.beausoleilhome.org.



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I have a great piece of property that they can put this house after they win the competition.


igeaux.mobi

By now, most of you have heard about UL's Beau Soleil solar home team. We've got some information in case you're wondering how you can help out.

Ul's team Beau Soleil is nearing completion on their solar home for the Solar Decathlon coming up in Washington D.C. but they still need some help getting there.

"To adopt a student, community

<center> KATC</CENTER>

Good luck in solar decathalon in DC. Once again UL leads the way in Louisiana leaving others in their dust. Robotics competions and now solar, what honors will be next.


Of course you never see any of these brought up by our "big brother" who is "first" in the state in everything to the East

Funny thing about LA politics.

A friend of mine is in engineering at UL. He was telling me that LSU's engineering program gets four times the state funding that UL's does. However, UL gets ELEVEN TIMES more funding from the federal government. The federal government knows what's up.

He was telling me both UL and LSU have launched 3 weather balloons in the past few years. LSU had a 0% success rate and a 0% recovery rate - meaning they didn't receive any of the data they expected to receive from their balloons, nor could they find them. UL had an 80% success rate and a 100% recovery rate. They got 80% of the data they were expecting back, and they located all three of them (pin-pointing them to within 500ft. I believe he said.)

He told me that he had done the calculations on one of them, and predicted it to fall in some river, so he went out and waited for it. Meanwhile, some LSU faculty invited themselves to help them. The LSU professor told him he was wrong, and the balloon was going to land approx. 15 miles away. My friend told he that he'll wait there, and the LSU prof could go out and look for it where he wanted, and if he was right, the LSU prof could be the hero. Guess where it landed. Right where my friend said it would.

The next day, in LSU's student newspaper, there was an article that read "LSU Professors Assist UL Students in Recovering Weather Balloons" (which, they didn't end up doing at all).
His professor wrote a letter to their editor, and the editor ran an apology to UL the next day.

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WE PASSED, WE PASSED, WE PASSED!!!

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Originally Posted by Gretchen Vanicor

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&nbsp;WOW!!! What an amazing day for TEAM BeauSoleil! WE pulled it all together and passed all of our inspections with only minutes to spare. This is a brief timeline:

6:00 PM - We were still having trouble with our breakers. I even called home and asked my family to start praying for us because the thought of not being able to start the competition was heartbreaking.

6:30 PM - We all stayed calm and came up with the solution. A local electrical supply store even stayed open late so one of our faculty advisors could buy some more breakers.

7:00 PM - The breakers arrive and we change them.

7:15 PM - Mr. Conway comes back and the new breakers work. Unfortunately the outlets were wrong so we still could not pass.

7:15 PM - 7:20 PM - WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?

7:20 PM - 7:30 PM - We run up and down the mall asking other teams if they could loan some outlets to us.

7:30 PM - 7:45 PM -We changed all the outlets and PASSED our final electrical inspection.

7:55 PM - Call for final inspection and PASS!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight, I witnessed the most incredible teamwork I have EVER seen. It was absolutely inspiring. WE worked together, kept our cool, and solved the problem. This is part of what makes our TEAM so special. We ALL truly believe in what we are doing and are very proud to represent our university, our culture and our state.

I would like to thank Mrs. T, Mrs. Billie, Father Chester and everyone back home who were praying for us (I really think this helped us through) and our incredible faculty members for helping us solve this problem. Also, we owe a huge amount of gratitude to the other Solar Decathlon teams (TEAM Missouri, The University of Arizona, The Ohio State University, University of Kentucky, and Universidad de Puerto Rico) who were so kind to help us out. We truly could not have done it without you!

So,it is here! We have finally made it. It is truly an amazing feeling to be here with my TEAM. We were definitely blessed tonight.

<i>from facebook

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Vote for the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home by sending a text to 99503 with the message HOUSE76 no spaces

FYI: The BeauSoleil house is currently in 5th place.

http://www.solardecathlon.org/

Link to the US Department of Energy website for this event.

WAFB in BR did a piece on this group last night on the 10 PM news. It was nice to see in BR, although we did get a U.L.L. or two out of it. They mostly called us UL Lafayette though. Still nice to see.
igeaux.mobi

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Originally Posted by KACajun

_ FYI: The BeauSoleil house is currently in 5th place. _

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Does anyone know the significance of the Text Message voting? I didn't see where that factored into their current 5th place score, not that it should. But I also didn't notice on the website where it talked about text votes.

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Originally Posted by KACajun

_ FYI: The BeauSoleil house is currently in 5th place. _

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The top 5 scoring is very close, less than 1 point difference between them.