The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Teams with Carnegie Mellon University to assist School of Architecture in the US Department of Energy's 2007 Solar Decathlon.

 

Art Institute Interior Design and Industrial Design Students creating custom furniture and interior plans for the sustainable home.

 

Pre-competition open house preview: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 at 5 p.m. on the site of Construction Junction, 214 N. Lexington Ave in Point Breeze.

 

Remarks by Richard King, Director of the Solar Decathlon for the United States Department of Energy and City of Pittsburgh Councilman, Bill Peduto, member of the Mayor's Green Task Force.

 

Interior Design and Industrial Design students from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh will assist Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture in creating an attractive, livable, and energy-efficient solar-powered house to compete in the 2007 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. sponsored by The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

 

Twenty teams of college students from all over the world will converge on the National Mall in early October to build their designs for a solar house, knowing from the outset that it must be powered entirely by the sun. In a quest to stretch every last watt of electricity that's generated by the solar panels on their roofs, the students absorb the lesson that energy is a precious commodity and become a new generation of professionals motivated to make environmentally conscious decisions in all aspects of their careers.

 

CMU Professor Stephen Lee is the academic supervisor and driving force behind Pittsburgh’s participation in the Solar Decathlon. Art Institute of Pittsburgh students are involved via Professor Lee’s invitation to assist with making the house more competitive and livable through professional interior and industrial design. Solar Decathlon competition homes are judged on ten criteria, including Architecture, Engineering, Market Viability, Communications, Comfort Zone, Appliances, Hot Water, Lighting, Energy Balance, and Getting Around.

 

Industrial Design for The Solar Decathlon
Under the direction of faculty member Bill Farrell, Industrial Design students evaluated the architectural plans for the home to design the most energy efficient, comfortable and attractive furnishings for the space. Using their knowledge of human factors and sustainable materials, students designed and fabricated coffee tables, a dining room set, a bedroom set, outdoor furniture and custom ceramic plates and flatware.

 

While not used for generating energy in the competition, coffee tables were designed with photo voltaic cells in a removable acrylic box that can be placed in the sun to provide a power source for small electronics. Student ceramicist Garrick Tai-Lee has created Modrian-inspired custom porcelain dinnerware.

 

Students have developed thoughtful and impressive design solutions that are functional and forward-thinking,” said Academic Department Director for Industrial Design Terri Laurenceau. “The ability to contribute to a project with the purpose of the Solar Decathlon is invaluable to their academic experience, but even more important offering new ideas and solutions for changing the way we live today.”

 

The Industrial Design Team
Academic Department Director: Terri Laurenceau
Faculty Advisor: Bill Farrell
Team Leader: Garrick Tai-Lee
Students: Jack PetersonDan Osman, Lee Perry, Kyle Mackiewitz

 

Interior Design for the Solar Decathlon
Interior Design faculty members Lori Claus and Lisa Whitney have assembled a team of students to research and specify interior aesthetics and accessories for the competition home. The student contributions provide a competitive advantage for the market viability and comfort zone portions of the Decathlon. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh funds the purchase of foliage, linens, accessories for the kitchen, bathrooms, floor coverings, window coverings and additional furniture.

 

Renowned Pittsburgh artist and Art Institute faculty Maura Doern Danko is contributing several paintings on loan to complete the interior project. “Ms. Doern Danko’s paintings convey the importance of the simple interactions of daily life,” said student Lauren Smith. “Her paintings will make a powerful visual contribution to the home.”

 

The Interior Design team evaluates the floor plan and applies residential design principles using sustainable materials whenever possible. “With thousands of people visiting the competition, the public becomes informed through the student’s example and expertise on the numerous benefits that involve sustainable design and products,” said Lori Claus.

 

The Interior Design Team
Academic Department Director: Kelly Spewock
Faculty Advisors: Lori Claus and Lisa Whitney
Team Leader: Lauren Smith
Team Coordinator: Heather Fuller
Interior Design Students: Brian Redmond, Amber King and Lacie Moore.

 

About the CMU Team
Carnegie Mellon's team is made up of students from the schools of architecture, art, design and drama in the College of Fine Arts, as well as students from the College of Engineering and the Tepper School of Business.

 

Architecture students planned the building while art, design and drama students fused functionality with aesthetics on the interior and exterior. The team's home consists of a central structure to which separate "pods" are attached. The pods are a detachable kitchen, bedroom and living room. This plug-and-play system, which provides great flexibility, allows the homeowners to rearrange, remove and add upgraded pods. The home also includes a deck space, a collaborative effort between Carnegie Mellon and a team from Germany's Technische Universität Darmstadt.



 

For more information on the Carnegie Mellon Solar Decathlon house, visit www.cmusolardecathlon.com. For more information about the national event, visit www.solardecathlon.org.

 

QUICK FACTS AND DATES:

 

Friday, October 12 – 10 a.m. - Opening Ceremony of the Solar Village on The National Mall

 

October 13-18 - Judging

 

October 19 at 2 p.m. - Winners announced

 

COMPETING TEAMS
Cornell University
University of Colorado at Boulder
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Cincinnati
Kansas State University /University of Kansas
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Lawrence Technological University
University of Maryland
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Missouri - Rolla
New York Institute of Technology
University of Texas at Austin
Penn State University
Santa Clara University
Team Montreal (École de Technologie Supérieure, Université de Montréal, McGill University)
Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
Texas A&M University
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Universidad de Puerto Rico
University of Colorado at Boulder

 

`

 

Request Information

Online Division

Alumni & Career Services

Fun Features

News Room & Calendar

Student Affairs

Welcome to Our World

Contact