Just in Time for April 22's Earth Day, UC Begins New Solar House Effort

The University of Cincinnati’s solar house, built by students and displayed in Washington, D.C., in 2007, is now being recycled.

A new group of students is deconstructing the house, currently standing on McMicken Commons. They are cataloging materials and the deconstruction process in order to learn lessons they will then employ in designing and building a new solar house with even higher levels of energy efficiency. The goal is to use as much of the current house’s materials as possible in the upcoming house.

• This upcoming Earth Day, April 22, the UC architecture and engineering students now working on the house will dismantle the 15-foot-high wall made from 120 evacuated tubes that form a patio shade wall. The tubes contain water that, when heated by the sun, translate into usable thermal energy for powering the air conditioning, domestic hot-water use and heating the house.

Currently working on the house are

• Architecture graduate student Jeff Badger, 23, of Nashville, Tenn.
• Architecture graduate student Noah Bergman, 28, of Keene, N.H.
• Architecture graduate student Kyle Campbell, 26, of Muncie, Ind.
• Architecture undergraduate Peter Keller, 19, of Toledo, Ohio
• Mechanical engineering undergraduate Joseph Klinger, 20, of Westerville, Ohio
  

These students agree that the hands-on learning with this house is the best possible experience.

Said Campbell, “In the short time we’ve been working on the house, I’ve come to appreciate the number of layers that go into constructing a building. I understand more fully how a house or other structure comes together.”

It’s important to note that the students are not demolishing the UC solar house. Though a sledge hammer is on the premises, it’s hardly ever used.

Explained Bergman, “The most challenging part of our process is that it’s definitely not a demolition job. We need to carefully save items. We need to take items apart and organize them for reuse, everything from electrical elements to duct work to floor and wall panels and windows. This is not ‘Extreme Home Makeover’ where they go in with a sledge hammer.”

He added, “It’s a great puzzle where we’re thinking backwards through the layers. We’ll need a systematic approach to logistically record it all and then build a new house.”

In the current reverse engineering of the solar house, the students are led by Anton Harfmann, associate professor of architecture, and Mike Kazmierczak, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

• Read more about UC’s solar house when it was displayed in Washington, D.C.
• Read more about UC’s architecture and engineering rankings. 
• Apply to UC’s undergraduate or graduate architecture program; or mechanical engineering program.