Stevens Tech award-winning "solar smart house" to be C.S.U. San Marcos veterans center

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal December 03, 2013 at 6:50 PM, updated December 04, 2013. An award-wining “solar smart house” designed and built by Stevens’ Institute of Technology students in Hoboken has been donated to California State University, San Marcos, to serve as a veterans’ center at the campus located near Camp Pendleton. “The opportunity to turn ‘Ecohabit’ into a functioning facility for returning veterans made the Solar Decathlon competition a truly meaningful experience for our students,” Dean of Stevens’ School of Engineering and Science Michael Bruno said in a statement. The building constructed in Hoboken won fourth place overall and second place among United States entries for the team in October’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, which tasks global university teams with creating affordable, energy-efficient solar-powered houses. The 19 entries included teams from the Czech Republic, Canada and Australia. The team of 61 students from various disciplines built the high-tech house in Hoboken over the course of two years. It was built in two modules to facilitate shipping cross country. A groundbreaking for its installation was held at the campus on Nov. 8 and the house is to open next fall. It will function as a facility for veterans, service members and reservists to obtain GI benefits, register for courses, and access campus and career services. The 1000-square-foot home is equipped with solar shingles, a rainwater harvesting system and energy-saving heating, cooling and plumbing systems. And it was designed to learn from its occupants. “The smart detection system might notice that every morning at 7 a.m., you’re getting hot water for a shower, so it’ll learn that every day at 7 a.m., it should have hot water ready for you,” explained team communications manager Zak Moy. Every room in the house has a detector that monitors humidity, temperature and movement, and responds to maximize efficiency. Occupants can track how much energy they’re producing and using, and what appliances are drawing the most power.
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