North House finishes 4th!

posted: october 21. 2009

North House, an energy-efficient home designed by students from SFU and two other universities, finished in fourth place among 20 top universities from North America and Europe in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, a prestigious international competition to develop a prefabricated solar home.

Team Ontario/BC - which also includes students and faculty from the University of Waterloo and Ryerson University - was one of only two Canadian finalist entries selected to participate in the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The solar decathlon, which first took place in 2002, took place Oct. 8 to 18 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. It features 20 university-based teams and their prototype solar homes. Participating universities come from Spain, Germany, and Puerto Rico, as well as Canada and the United States.

The teams had to erect full-scale houses within seven days, then compete across 10 categories measuring design quality, energy efficiency and operational performance. Among the challenges -- hold two dinner parties, with points awarded for meal quality, ambiance and overall experience.

SFU's team was led by faculty members Rob Woodbury and Lyn Bartram. "North House is a radical design, with subtle and highly integrated  systems. It was the clear leader of all entries in human-centred systems for systems for sustainable living.  We are the most regionally dispersed team and we made the collaboration work," said Woodbury.

North House's kitchen. The SIAT-designed adaptive living interface panel is at the left. Photo courtesy of Terri Boake.

Team Ontario/BC developed North House, specially designed for cold northern weather. The team combined green building, solar and interactive technologies with advanced manufacturing techniques in order to reduce energy demand, foster a conservation ethic and boost the quality of life for Canadians. The house can produce about double the amount of energy its occupants consume, the team says.

The SIAT group designed the Solar House’s adaptive living interface (ALIS), an interactive layer of information systems that are responsive to touch, capable of subtle display, and designed to assist occupants in making informed decisions by providing real-time feedback on the home’s energy status. The interface is accessible in different ways, says Bartram, including a touch-screen wall panel in the kitchen and an iPhone application for remote control and feedback.The iPhone app can even remotely retract the bed into the ceiling to increase livable floor space during the day.

Woodbury, who chaired the project's advisory board, had nothing but praise for his colleagues: "Lyn Bartram did a fantastic job in leading the SFU team. SFU students included Johny Rodgers (SIAT), Kevin Muise (SIAT), Rob MacKenzie (CS), Davis Marques (SIAT),  Jen Fan (SIAT), Yin He (SIAT), Milena Droumeva (SIAT), Jenny Thai (SIAT) and Alex Skibicki (SIAT). Ron Wakkary made a contribution to  the early stages of the project." He also singled out some local companies for their support: "North House uses many BC systems and products. We are particularly grateful to Day4Energy, Xantrex, BC Hydro, Vertech, PulseEnergy, and Embedded Automation for their real and sustained support."

Bartram says North House will live on after the competition. The version of North House on display in Washington will be dismantled after the competition and rebuilt at the University of Waterloo, she says. She also hopes to have another version on display at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. "By the time North House goes back to Ontario we hope to be starting work on the next one."

For more information please visit www.team-north.com.

North House has garnered a significant amount of media exposure:

NEWS 1130 (Vancouver): http://at.sfu.ca/BnOrVG

CBC's THE NATIONAL: October 8th edition.

The Globe and Mail: http://at.sfu.ca/tlAoCF

For more information about Team North, please see www.team-north.com or contact Dr. Lyn Bartram - lyn@sfu.ca