Solar Decathalon Goes to State Capital

It was a humid day in August when the trucks filled with deconstructed pieces of InSite, Middlebury’s 2013 Solar Decathlon house, rolled out onto College Street bound for Irvine, Calif. After a summer filled with long hours, great attention to detail, creative thinking, and problem solving, InSite is finally complete and ready for competition.

This will be the College’s second time participating in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, a biennial collegiate competition where students design and build working, solar-powered houses. The College will be one of 20 teams to compete in this prestigious competition. The Department of Energy’s requirements for entries stipulate that the house must use solar energy. However, “[The InSite Team] wanted to create a house that was both green and local. We wanted to think beyond just using solar energy,” Brandon Gell ’16 said. Gell has been actively involved in Solar Decathlon since last September and has been working on the house all summer.

Many intricate design elements were implemented with the vision of creating stronger local communities. The team consciously used as many local materials as possible. All of the lumber used in construction came from trees certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which requires a tree to be planted for every tree that is cut down. For insulation, the team used old pairs of jeans and pieces of local newspapers.

InSite includes many elements that directly involve the community as well. The “Solar Path,” created by solar panels that are detached from the house and placed in front of the south side will encourage Middlebury townspeople and other college students to connect to InSite. This element will help to create a more pedestrian-friendly community.           “We wanted to reinforce the idea that you could have this beautiful house without the energy being attached to it,” Gell said. This new approach to alternative energy design makes the energy component more a part of the community rather than strictly a part of the house.

Another important design element of the house is the green roof.

“Our roof is north sloping and will grow [succulents],” said Gell. “This element literally gives back to the community. The house itself is giving oxygen back to the atmosphere and to our environment.”

Team Middlebury College took a community-focused approach to creating InSite, so it is of little surprise that the Vermont community is already taking notice of their hard work, innovation and creativity.

On Tuesday Sept. 10th Governor Peter Schumlin will host Team Middlebury College and Team Norwich University at the Statehouse, where he will give a keynote address at 10 a.m. The program, which will include speeches from both President Richard Schneider of Norwich and President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, will celebrate both teams’ work.
Gell said he is excited about the Governor’s Statehouse invitation.

“I appreciate that the Governor finds the work we do to be important,” he said. “It’s great to see that he is proud of the Vermont teams especially when we will be competing against teams from all over the world.”

As those who have witnessed how diligently the members of Team Middlebury College have been working, the Middlebury College community was delighted to hear of the Statehouse’s recognition of Team Middlebury’s success.

“The visit to the statehouse is a well-deserved honor for the Solar Decathlon team, and a wonderful recognition of the real-world significance of the work they have done,” said Andrea Lloyd, Dean of Faculty.

Tim Spears, Dean of Academic Affairs, also said, “It is a wonderful testimony to our students’ hard work and creative thinking that the Governor has chosen to honor the Solar Decathlon team.”
Following the Governor’s and presidents’ addresses, Solar Decathlon students will participate in a press conference. The Statehouse also plans to host a reception on the lawn where students will have the opportunity to discuss the vision for their house and specific design elements with the public.

The celebration at the Statehouse will occur less than a month before the competition, which will take place from October 3 - 13, and although it is several weeks away, the College community is already wishing the team well.

“InSite is a worthy successor to Self-Reliance, and I am excited to see this year’s team represent the College at the Solar Decathlon competition,” Spears said. Lloyd also sends her best wishes to the team.

“I hope that the entire team… is feeling tremendous satisfaction at a job well done,” said Lloyd. “And I wish them the best of luck in the competition in Irvine!”

Gell will be heading to California in late September to work on putting the house back together once again. When asked how he was feeling about the upcoming competition, he said, “Maybe I have a false sense of confidence because I am so proud of the house, but I am feeling good about Irvine. Although winning is important, it isn’t everything, and what matters is that we created and finished the house successfully. It has been an incredible experience.”