The metallic gleam of Virginia Tech’s solar house, Lumenhaus, will add extra shine to the flashy face of New York City tomorrow on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“It’s going to be right in the center of Times Square on one of the most premiere locations in the country,” said Robert Dunay, Lumenhaus’ primary faculty adviser.
Lumenhaus is an 800-square-foot solar-powered house constructed by students and faculty from a myriad of Tech disciplines including architecture, industrial design, business, building construction and engineering.
The television appearance emerges after Lumenhaus competed last fall, alongside nearly 20 other colleges and universities, in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon. Hosted on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the event showcased innovations in energy efficiency and technology through 10 juried contests such as architecture and home entertainment.
Dunay said NBC’s “Today Show” originally expressed interest in the house. The network executed a “Green Week” in November and at one point considered Lumenhaus a key element of the themed broadcasts.
In anticipation of the exhibition, Lumenhaus left the nation’s capital in October, traveling straight to New Jersey. Kullman Buildings Corporation, a fabricator that helped construct the dwelling’s structural frame, offered its factory as a staging area. However, coordinating with “Today” proved too trying.
“For technical reasons, issues of union labor, and setting up on Rockefeller Plaza,” Dunay said. “They decided it wasn’t feasible and couldn’t be done in enough
time.”
“Good Morning America” caught wind of Lumenhaus’ availability and successfully organized a visit from the Tech team.
“They see it as something that would be informative to viewers from a point of view of energy and a point of view of residential construction,” Dunay said.
Lumenhaus crossed state lines Wednesday morning to begin its rapid setup. A small group of students trekked north to prepare what Dunay said is a more modest version of the abode.
“We had a lot of water features and a lot of extensive deck and a lot of landscaping on the Mall,” he said.
Not all Lumenhaus systems will be operational in New York, although notable aesthetics including lighting and the “Eclipsis” wall system will run. Eclipsis is a thin exterior composed of a metal screen sunshade and translucent insulation panels. The two layers slide independently atop floor-to-ceiling windows, giving occupants control over how much light penetrates Lumenhaus.
The Department of Energy’s goal is to make energy issues more accessible to the public, Dunay said the “Today” exposure also highlights Tech’s sweep.
“This is a research-educational project simultaneously and now it’s becoming outreach by virtue of being in New York City,” he said. “We’re in one sense promoting what the University does.”
Dunay said students’ educations aren’t secretive endeavors executed solely in the Blacksburg enclave. And New York City isn’t Lumenhaus’ last tour stop. The building will journey to Madrid for the first European Solar Decathlon to be held
in June.
But Lumenhaus will first revisit its Virginia origins, staking out behind Cowgill Hall to take a four-month breath and powder up.
“We’re going to tie it into an earth loop — a geothermal loop — (and) we’re going to set it up the exact way it’s going to be for Spain,” said Joe Wheeler, another Lumenhaus primary faculty adviser.
Once Lumenhaus arrives next week, the public is welcome to visit as the Tech team begins tweaking and upgrading. After disappointing results at the Washington, D.C. decathlon, Wheeler said Lumenhaus should be poised for success across the Atlantic.
“We feel really good about how we’re going to do in the competition,” he said, “because the way it’s written supports high design.”
Senior industrial design student Casey Reeve said the U.S. decathlon judging involved closely metered numeric performances, which included hot water production and appliance usage. New categories and varying point values in the upcoming contest, however, may better highlight some of the Lumenhaus’ novelties.
“The ideology behind the house is a little bit more geared towards (Solar Decathlon) Europe,” Reeve said.
Regardless of the outcome, Wheeler said he sees a future for Lumenhaus far beyond this summer.
"We see this as much bigger than just the competitions,” he said. “We now have a prototype that we can do continued testing on.”