the news

-Youngest team (all Undergraduate)
-most student-engaged project
-the most PUBLISHED team, with 100+ publications covering the Solar Roofpod
-ranked #4 in Communications Contest
-was one of the more popular houses amongst visitors, receiving over 10,000 visitors in 10 days.
-was in the top three for four consecutive days in the People’s Choice Award, even reaching #1 in the first 24 hours of the contest
-#1 in Buildipedia poll

The past few days have been very eventful for the team. We conducted our last days of public exhibition this past weekend. On Saturday, the final results of the competition were announced. Maryland, Purdue, and New Zealand secured first, second, and third place respectively. US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu also was present at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday, and mentioned the Solar Roofpod several times in his speech, more than any other project! Citing the Solar Roofpod as ‘an unprecedented’ project, we were proud to hear our project mentioned in his speech.

On Sunday, we conducted our last day of public exhibition. That evening, we began disassembly.

The pod will return to a rooftop on campus for permanent location after disassembly in Washington DC.

The students shared many different sentiments about the outcome of the competition- however, we know we are winners because we never compromised the integrity of our design for the true concept.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the team in these past two years, we will keep you posted on what happens to the pod afterwards!

After a four hour day of public exhibit, Team New York was pleased to see its standings in the Competitions contest, ranking in at fourth place!

The Communications jury ranked the team on Public Exhibit presentation & materials, website, and its video walkthrough. The jurors’ comments exclaimed that they were thrilled to see a “penthouse with a purpose” and saw much of our enthusiasm in our tour and website.

Team New York has committed itself to extensive communication outreach since early 2010, showing others the importance of urban sustainability. Weekly presentations to building industry professionals, collaboration with local and national organizations, and probably the most published team in the competition, TEAM NEW YORK definitely got out the word about the Solar Roofpod!

The looks on visitors’ faces when they would exit the pod during the house tours speaks volume.. many people claim that this is the most attractive and space efficient home in the competition! They also state that it is the one that sets itself most apart from other homes. Such comments and expressions that we have been receiving ever since the completion of pod construction, proves that Team New York has communicated its concepts clearly!

Today we prepped for more public exhibit tours! Many visitors had questions about the feasibility of the Solar Roofpod across rooftops, and were amazed to learn that 200,000 of our prototypes can actually be established on city rooftops! We found that there were many more families on site today, and had to explain our concepts in terms that all age ranges could understand. The birdproof glass on our facade is one popular feature, which prevents birds from colliding into our building- this is achieved through an etching on the glass panel.

The NYC Subway door is another popular feature of the home- laughter full of delight and shocked sounds escape visitor’s mouths, as they see the door hidden behind a cabinet panel, serving as one of two entries to the mechanical room! The entire home is built to NYC building code, and so we needed a fire-rated door, with the subway door serving that purpose.

Keep your support coming for Team New York for the People’s Choice Award!

Click here to vote for Team New York!
http://www.solardecathlon.gov/poll/pca/pca_register.php

Today was a long day on site. We gave public exhibit tours for four hours, and then we conducted some interviews for the press.

Today the team also took a shuttle from site to the Capital Visitor Center, to hear the results for the Architecture contest. While we did not win, we applaud the three teams that did. The competition was very tight between all teams, with there being only 16 points between first and last place!

Tonight Dinner Party # 2 also took place. Two of us had a nice Massachusetts meal at Massachusett’s home, with two representatives from Ohio, two from California, and two from Massachusetts. This is one of the events that allows the teams to socialize. We learned about where each of us was from, about our career aspirations, and hobbies. We learned that many of us dealt with similar challenges while building each of our respective homes in Washington DC, and even the same ‘studio’ struggles of designing the home.

Team New York served a diverse meal, to bring out the fact that we are composed of many ethnicities. We served a Greek salad, an Indian entree- chicken tikka masala, and a Dominican dessert.

P.S. Only two days left to vote for us in the People’s Choice Award, so don’t forget!

http://www.solardecathlon.gov/poll/pca/pca_register.php

[A photo featured on the US Department of Energy website]

Today was Solar Education Day at West Potomac Park. Plenty of students came, many of whom were from middle schools and high schools. They were fascinated by the bird proof glass of the exterior facades of the Solar Roofpod.

Tonight, we’re hosting a dinner party for our neighbors on the site, keeping energy efficiency in mind. Less reliance on appliance is better. Our meals reflect diversity, so we are taking recipes from different ethnicities from team members. The teams have to judge each other! The dinner will continue on this week.

Six of our team members went to other homes- two went to Ohio’s home, two went to CalTech’s home, and two went to Massachusett’s home. Consequently, these other three teams came to our pod for dinner.

We had four hours of exhibition today, from 10 am to 2 pm, and over 1000 visitors came in that time period! Lets keep the momentum going, and lets keep voting for Team New York for People’s Choice! You can vote at: http://www.solardecathlon.gov/poll/pca/pca_register.php