UAB Unveils Completely Solar-Powered House for Upcoming Competition

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2017/06/Unknown.jpeg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:640;s:6:"height";i:440;s:4:"file";s:20:"2017/06/Unknown.jpeg";s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-336x231.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:231;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-140x140.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:18:"Unknown-80x80.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-600x338.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-600x440.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:440;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-452x311.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:452;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-385x265.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:385;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-600x400.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-600x440.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:440;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Unknown-125x125.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Esther Ciammachilli
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1654972366 
1497521713

A team made up of students, faculty and staff at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, unveiled SURVIV(AL) house Wednesday.

The project is part of the 2017 Solar Decathlon competition taking place in Denver this October. UAB is competing against 12 other teams from around the world to see which team can build the best, completely solar-powered, full-size home. The 1000-square-foot house is modular, and will be taken apart and transported to Denver. Once there, the team will have to reassemble it and, of course, make sure it works. Linn Smith is a consultant on the project and says transporting a house that’s not meant to be moved presents a huge engineering challenge.

Students use screws to fasten sub-floor to the frame of SURVIV(AL) house. Usually nails are used for this purpose.

Esther Ciammachilli,WBHM
Students use screws to fasten sub-floor to the frame of SURVIV(AL) house. Usually nails are used for this purpose.

“The way it was constructed and what the architects designed into it, instead of just traditional nailing the floor joist and things like that down, it’s put together with screws which would be something that you would not normally do in normal house construction,” Smith says.

Once the competition is over, the team must transport the house back to Birmingham where it will serve as an anchor for the planned green space on the south side of the UAB campus. Scott Jones is an engineering student on the team and he says the project so far has taught him a valuable life lesson.

“I’ve learned that things might look great on paper, [but] when you start doing it in real life, you know, kind of have to adapt to the situation,” Jones says.

The team is responsible for raising all the funding for the project, which they say has been the biggest challenge so far. They have enough to cover the cost of finishing construction on the house, but they still need to raise about $175,000 to cover transportation and travel expenses to Denver, where the team will spend about a month preparing for the competition.

 

Trump says a U.S.-China trade deal is ‘done’

After talks in London this week, the two countries say they're largely going back to a framework they already agreed on in May.

Photos: See the dazzling pictures of June’s Strawberry Moon

A strawberry moon occurs during the time of year when strawberries fully ripen.

Elon Musk says some of his social media posts about Trump ‘went too far’

Musk has quietly deleted some of his inflammatory tweets about Trump since last week. In a podcast episode released Wednesday, Trump said he was disappointed in Musk but had "no hard feelings."

Thomas Mallon’s NYC diaries get to the ‘Very Heart’ of the AIDS crisis

Mallon has been keeping diaries for most of his life. The Very Heart of It collects entries from the years 1983 to 1994, when he had recently come out as gay and moved to New York City.

Greetings from Palmyra, Syria, with its once-grand hotel named for a warrior queen

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work around the world.

Inflation is holding steady as Trump’s tariffs have yet to fully hit

Consumer prices in May were up 2.4% from a year ago, but inflation eased on a monthly basis, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department

More Environment Coverage