[GBlist] Solar Decathlon starts today (information from EREN list)

["Hammonds, Mark (BP Solar)" <HammonM@bp.com>]

Weather Uncertain as Solar Decathlon Competition Gears Up

The competition phase of the Solar Decathlon begins on Thursday, and
the Solar Village -- consisting of the 14 competing solar houses --
is steadily taking shape on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The university teams and their partially constructed homes all
arrived safely, despite treks from as far away as Texas, Missouri,
Colorado, and even Puerto Rico. And as the Solar Village takes
shape, so does the Solar Decathlon Web site, which now features
daily photos of the competition. During the competition, the site
will also feature team diaries, scoring results, and rankings. See
the Solar Decathlon Web site at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/solar_decathlon/>.

The competition will be open to the public starting Thursday, but
for those of us unable to visit in person, the Web site now provides
images and descriptions of each entry. Through these new Web pages,
you can see the diversity of approaches used by the teams and gain
an appreciation for the creativity and innovation of the entries.
Although every team combines energy efficiency and solar
technologies in their homes, the teams are using a variety of
strategies to maintain comfortable interior temperatures, including
water-filled walls and columns for heat storage, radiant floor
heating, heat pumps, natural ventilation, and shutters and awnings.
For daylighting, some teams are using high-tech skylights and
translucent walls. The Texas A&M team even designed and built its
own appliances. And although it isn't part of the competition, many
teams took extra efforts to use sustainable materials in their
homes. See the "Follow the Teams" section of the Web site at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/solar_decathlon/follow.html>.

A big factor in the competition, of course, is the weather. The
teams had to prepare for the competition knowing that record highs
for this time of year in the nation's capital have reached the
mid-90s, and record lows have descended into the mid-30s. But at
press time on Tuesday, the temperature forecast is favorable, with
predicted highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s or 60s. The outlook
for sunshine, however, is less favorable, with showers expected on
Thursday and continuing into the weekend. See the Weather Channel
forecast at: <http://www.weather.com/weather/local/USDC0001>.

The weekend weather forecast may deteriorate, since at present,
Tropical Storm Isadore is expected to return to hurricane force and
head north, likely bringing more rain to the region this weekend.
And another tropical storm, Lili, is expected to sweep through the
Caribbean heading northwest late this week, potentially bringing
more rain to the nation's capital next week. See the Weather
Channel's Tropical Storm Tracker at:
<http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/activeatlantic.html>.

Mark Hammonds
BP Solar www.bpsolar.com





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