Students build cutting-edge solar lab

The Norwich University departments of engineering and architecture this summer built a portable solar-powered lab to be used for environmental research projects, according to an assistant professor of architecture.

The 200-sq-ft EMBARC (Energy Mobile Building Arts Research Center) is the only solar-powered lab on campus. Its construction was started on June 20 and finished in mid-August. It is the beginning of a three-phase solar-building project, according to Matt Lutz, assistant professor of architecture..

EMBARC is expected to be fully functional by the start of spring semester. "We will be able to record interior, wall and exterior temperatures," Lutz said.

There are also plans to monitor solar panel efficiency and ground water, according to Lutz.

With limited help from NU professors, the EMBARC was designed and built by nine Norwich architecture, engineering and construction management students, according to Lutz.

"The most important thing the students learned was the interdisciplinary nature of the building arts," Lutz said. "Architecture students learned about what it is like to work with a civil engineer or a structural engineer, engineering management students learned about what it is like to work with architecture students."

"I think everyone got a deep appreciation of what everyone else does," Lutz said.

"It was a great experience from my end," said Amber Heckmann, a 20-year-old senior civil engineering major from San Antonio, Texas. "I got a lot of hands-on experience. I got to apply stuff I have actually been learning, and see what it is like to work with people I will be working with when I get out of school."

The shell for the EMBARC was an old shipping container that was welded together to insure that it would be able to perform through the Vermont winters.

"Right now there is nothing inside of it except for a control panel for the solar rays and a set of eight batteries that collect the power," Heckmann said. "They are planning on adding cabinetry, work benches and they are also planning on designing a water-collection system."

EMBARC is going to be used primarily for teaching purposes and research, according to Heckmann.

The 1000-sq-ft RAVE house (Renewable Adaptable Vermont Eco) is the second phase of the project, which will be entered in the 2013 Solar Decathlon, according to Edwin Schmeckpeper, associate professor of civil engineering.

According to the Solar Decathlon website, "The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency."

"Its goal is to have a zero net-energy use off of the grid so that the house will collect enough energy over the course of the year to be self sufficient," Schmeckpeper said. "It is also designed to be economical for construction so that it won't just be a house for a competition. It is designed to be a prototype for the ones that will be constructed and sold in Vermont, so that it will be used in the state."

Construction on the RAVE house could be started as early as October and as late as the beginning of spring semester, said Schmeckpeper.

"The students are looking to have the construction of the shell of the building started in October,"

Schmeckpeper said, "which is a very aggressive schedule."

The third phase of the project is CISBE.

"CISBE (Center for Integrated studies and the Built Environment) is a cooperative venture between architecture, construction management and engineering students," Schmeckpeper said.

"What they are working on is to make a building large enough so that they could work on our decathlon house on the inside and students of all different majors could learn about energy consumption," Schmeckpeper said.

A building site for the CISBE project is still being determined, said Schmeckpeper. "Right now they are going through some of the approval process that involves permitting with the town and also the state."

"Their goal is to start construction on a permanent building within about two years," Schmeckpeper said.

"That could be very optimistic depending on (if) it (stays) on campus where it can be close to the rest of the buildings."

The CISBE building will be energy efficient, according to Schmeckepeper.

"CISBE was part of our studio where we were designing basically a laboratory or building that can be used to build large-scale design-build projects and also do material testing," said Peter Abiles, a 22-year-old architecture graduate student, from Vienna, Va.

Abiles was one of the original designers of the project and says that students are trying to improve the designs for RAVE and CISBE.

"If the facility is built, engineers, construction managers, architects and basically anybody that deals with the built environment could go in there and do material testing for solar panels, wall systems or could build an actual small energy lab," Abiles said.

The entire process was a great experience, said Abiles. "… We all enjoyed it, just being able to get work in the field, get real experience and work with different majors and the professors."

With all the work put into these projects, the hope is that Norwich uses solar panels in any new buildings, said Lutz.

"I think eventually any organization this size will need to make a commitment to renewable energy," Lutz said. "It just makes good sense in a lot of ways."