tennessee archives - planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球

living light: sustainable solar mass appeal

mon, 12 sep 2011 13:33:18 +0000

living light is designed to attract emerging young professionals with an average income of $100,000 working in the vibrant design, science, and technology industries of nashville, tennessee. for this clientele, technical systems are not hidden but embraced as aesthetic features in a contemporary design. a house that balances technology and modern design features with regional history and landscape will be of value to these residents.

looking to keep track of team tennessee’s living light?

for access to the entire archive of the university of tennessee’s solar decathlon 2011 videos: visit the member page

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living light – walkthrough

tue, 06 sep 2011 11:01:07 +0000

take a tour of the living light house, the university of tennessee’s submission for the solar decathlon 2011. the home, inspired by a long history of efficient design strategies in our area, combines performance and aesthetics to create a livable, highly efficient home.

looking to keep track of the living light team?

for access to the entire archive of the university of tennessee’s solar decathlon 2011 videos: visit the member page

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active and passive systems ignite team tennessee’s living light

tue, 16 aug 2011 13:52:10 +0000

the university of tennessee’s living light house incorporates the knowledge of tennessee’s past and present to create an environmentally responsive, comfortable home to meet the needs of today. the dual extremes of our climate led the original inhabitants of tennessee to create distinct winter and summer houses tailored to the demands of heating and cooling. other building types, such as the dog-trot house and cantilever barn, also prompted interesting responses to the region’s unique design constraints through local materials and passive design strategies. these initial design practices continue to be relevant today, when combined with new and innovative technologies and have been a primary source of inspiration for the living light concept.

through our analysis we have developed a four-part hierarchy for integrating passive and active systems:
1. basic building design (siting, orientation, massing, and space planning)
2. passive design (daylighting, natural ventilation, cooling, and heat gain)
3. high performance building (efficient hvac, active envelope, building sensoring)
4. green power (decentralized and grid-tied systems of solar, wind, etc.)

our intent is to define the appropriate level of design–to begin with simple strategies and add complexity as necessary.

like the cantilever barn, the floor plan is organized around two wooden cores that are pushed to the extents of the space. the utility core houses the engineered systems and most kitchen appliances. an island provides additional kitchen preparation space and dining for two. the opposite core contains the more private elements of the bed and bath. the bed tucks neatly behind the cabinetry, allowing the occupant to fully utilize the space for the entertainment system and storage. the dark toned materials of the core frame the light wood tones of the interior and exterior living spaces. the use of modular furniture in the open space allows the home to transform to various needs, while opening it up to exterior views and maximizing day lighting capabilities. the living light house uses glass for transparency, day lighting, and views to the surrounding environment.

looking to keep track of team tennessee?

for access to the entire archive of living light’s solar decathlon 2011 videos: visit the member page

visit the solar decathlon category page!

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tennessee’s mr. photon explains solar energy

mon, 15 aug 2011 16:00:25 +0000

with education at the forefront of the living light endeavor, a solar decathlon 2011 project from university of tennessee, we want to provide ways to reach people of all ages and educate them about our home and sustainability. enter mr. photon.
mr. photon is the mascot of the living light house whose mission is to educate elementary school children on sustainable practices through stop-motion animated videos. though it is directed at the youngest of our population, it is cute and fun for people of all ages. a team of graphic designers at the university of tennessee has been working to create these educational videos describing different aspects of the living light house and how it functions through the character mr. photon. the debut video, titled “mr. photon explains solar energy,” teaches us about solar power and how we are able to use the sun to capture energy to power our homes.

looking to keep track of team tennessee?

for access to the entire archive of living light’s solar decathlon 2011 videos: visit the member page

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tennessee students engineer eco-vehicle that drives for pennies

tue, 19 jul 2011 14:00:15 +0000

most commuters in urban areas drive to work a distance of less than 15 miles, one-way. most of these are single passengers in vehicles designed to carry up to 5 passengers. if a vehicle was available that was sufficiently comfortable but used much less energy and if people would adopt such a vehicle, the environmental impact of commuters could be significantly reduced. a team of engineering students from the university of tennessee started with a commercially available kit for a three-wheeled electric car, the buge (http://www.bugev.net/). they modified the frame and components, test drove the vehicle to simulate use as a commuting vehicle for 2 weeks, and conducted an analysis to compare this vehicle to other vehicles in terms of environmental and health impacts as well as operating and capital costs. the full analysis can be found in a copy of the final project report to the epa, which is posted at http://web.utk.edu/~pdf/h2vbev/report.pdf.
the report includes a proposal for extending the work for an additional two years.

in the original proposed project, the students were going to build a hydrogen fuel cell version of the car to test as well. however, delivery problems for the fuel cell and a very tight project timeline made it impossible to build both cars before the students would need to enter their project in the epa’s p3 competition (http://www.epa.gov/p3/). because of the similarities between the battery electric system and fuel cell system and the data gathered during road testing, it was simple to design the vehicle and to include the hydrogen fuel cell version of the vehicle in the sustainability analysis. perhaps a future team will build the fuel cell version to validate the design and performance analysis.

the tested vehicle uses very little energy and could easily be charged from either a home-installed solar panel or by purchasing “green power” from the local utility.

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sen. alexander says subsidies should include alternative energy

mon, 04 apr 2011 10:00:59 +0000

senator lamar alexander caught up with planet forward at arpa-e to talk about our energy future. he also talks about his state,tennessee, and the way they are incorporating electric vehicles.

in tennessee, nissan is working hard to produce the leaf along with necessary battery parts. senator alexander hopes for increased acceptance of electric vehicles in the us.

incentives to buy electric vehicles will run out soon, and federal money would be best spent on reducing the cost of batteries, and promoting basic research on batteries.

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