Cornell’s Silo House will compete in the 2009 Solar Decathlon
Cornell’s entry into the 2009 Solar Decathlon is called the Silo House. It has a number of neat interior and exterior features. The house is a combination of three connected round structures. Hence the name Silo House.
The team behind this house is one of the largest ever assembled on Cornell’s campus. Rather than just involving the Colleges of Engineering and Architecture, the school decided to involve approximately 150 students from other areas as well. The Colleges of Human Ecology, and Agricultural and Life Sciences, and the Johnson Graduate School of Management are also included.
The house was designed by Irina Chernyakova, an undergraduate architect student scheduled to graduate in 2010. It incorporates both aspects of upstate New York architecture with many green features like solar thermal and lighting controls. The house has a steel frame and corrugated steel outer shell. The structure is basically “three separate interior spaces” that can each be closed off or opened up to the outside with sliding and collapsible glass walls. It is built around an open covered courtyard increasing the living area.
The interior has features that increase the living space such as “a bed that lowers from the ceiling” and “a full kitchen emerging from the island in the center”. Solar skylights help provide natural light for the interior minimizing the need for artificial lighting during the day. Water will come from underground water tanks and hydroponic planters will filter gray water into drinkable water.
The 2009 Solar Decathlon will take place in Washington, DC in October. For those wishing to get a preview of the house, it will be assembled at the New York State Fair in Syracuse from Aug. 27 to Sept. 9, 2009. After the fair, the house will be dismantled and taken to Washington where it will be reassembled for this years Solar Decathlon.
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