designwire daily | Solar Decathalon Awards Project from New School, Habitat for Humanity

Solar Decathalon Awards Project from New School, Habitat for Humanity

by Ian Volner | Tuesday, September 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

Empowerhouse, a model for low-cost green housing entered in this year’s Solar Decathalon contest, has been awarded the biannual collegiate competition’s award for affordability. Designed by a group that includes students from Parsons The New School for Design, The Stevens Institute of Technology, and The Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy, the project was conceived in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity and the Washington, DC Department of Housing and Community Development—the first instance in the Decathalon’s nine-year history that designers have partnered with government or institutional groups in developing their proposal. The Empowerhouse team is sharing the distinction with a group from Purdue University.

Empowerhouse achieved the lowest construction cost of all the submitted schemes, coming in at $229,890. For the money, occupants get a four-square wooden structure that boasts an impressive catalog of energy-saving features: an insulating thick envelope, featuring a 12-inch cavity filled with cellulose; an articulated “wet module,” with the house’s kitchen, bath, and boiler tied together for efficiency; and a modular furniture system, ReBox, that uses eco-sensitive glues and non-formaldehyde components. The house has already been designated as the future home of a Habitat for Humanity family, and will be located permanently in the Deanwood section of Washington.

“Going into this competition, we knew that we wanted to build a house that would be more than simply an exhibition piece,” said Parsons dean Joel Towers. “This project illustrates Parsons’ commitment to sustainable design, and to confronting the complex problem of climate change that is so imperative for America and the world.”