{"id":50585,"date":"2023-05-10T08:44:56","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T12:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=50585"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:23:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T17:23:30","slug":"low-income-relief-solar-decathlon-team-building-a-home-to-ship-to-california-and-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/05\/low-income-relief-solar-decathlon-team-building-a-home-to-ship-to-california-and-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Decathlon team building a home to ship to California \u2014 and back"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Members

Members of the Solar Decathlon team work Wednesday, May 3, at Engel Stadium. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Andrew Eubanks gets a bit choked up when he talks about the work being done by the Solar Decathlon team at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

As an entrant in the inaugural Orange County Sustainability Decathlon, the 20-member team\u2019s first challenge is to design and build\u2014in the Engel Stadium outfield\u2014an 1,800-square-foot, energy-efficient house. The second is to break it apart and send it to California for the October competition.<\/p>\n

The final step is to break it apart again, ship it back to Chattanooga and rebuild it as low-income housing. That\u2019s the part that gets to Eubanks, a senior in chemical engineering and project manager for the Solar Decathlon team.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to build a community around something that came out of my mind and to be able to build that and … and \u2026 and, sorry, it gets me a little emotional,\u201d he said, finding it a bit hard to talk for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a lot of work to be done, for sure,\u201d said Eubanks, who grew up in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta and graduated from North Cobb High School. \u201cWe need to be able to get it done and show that it can be done, then be able to put it out into the community. That sense of pride makes me want to just go out and shake somebody and say, \u2018We can do this!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Sungwoo Yang, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Chemical Engineering and faculty sponsor for the Solar Decathlon team, has the same goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is my vision. That is where we are going, and this is just beginning,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are making a great, positive impact for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on conceptual designs, 18 college teams are competing in the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon. Building materials for the two-bedroom, one-bath home are being purchased and about $75,000 is needed to finish the job, Yang said.<\/p>\n

Getting ready for the competition began in early 2022 with intensive research into building materials and how to build the home step-by-step. In May 2022, Eubanks began designing the house using energy-efficient criteria issued by the Home Energy Rating System (HERS), the industry\u2019s gold standard.<\/p>\n

The housing design is modular. A central section will hold the \u201cheart\u201d of the house\u2014kitchen, heating and air conditioning equipment, bathroom\u2014then sections with bedrooms, living areas and other features are added one at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a Lego where you can connect pieces. The benefit of being modular means it is shippable,\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n

Most team members are students in departments of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, but the team is not limited to engineering students.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny student who wants to join now is welcome, and you don\u2019t have to be an engineering major to join,\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n

Grant Fetters, a junior majoring in accounting and finance in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, is conducting cost analysis on building materials for the house, among other tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust figuring out what would be best for the house, what makes the most sense with our design with the costs relatively the cheapest and had the best quality,\u201d said Fetters, who graduated from Wilson Central High School near Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

His analysis also must factor in the energy efficiency and sustainability of each building material, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was specifically looking at the flooring, I was looking at what material is going to last a while and is also carbon neutral, so when it was produced, it didn’t take a lot of energy to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

His work on the Solar Decathlon team will help him after he graduates and heads into the business world, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the real-world application. It’s working with a big group of people and trying to stay organized and everyone on task.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s the managerial side of things as well as the specifics of making a project over a long span of time. How we can make it efficient and everyone to be engaged throughout the whole process.\u201d<\/p>\n

*   *   *   *   *<\/p>\n

In the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon, each project will be judged in 10 areas:<\/p>\n