Portsmouth has broken ground and is now laying the foundation for a special energy-efficient solar house that will be installed on campus later this spring. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 30 at the southeast end of campus near the wind turbine.
The 800-sq.-ft. solar house was designed by Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) architecture students under the guidance of Professor of Architecture Wilbur Yoder and Assistant Professor of Architecture Jonathan Knowles. Newport Collaborative Architects, located in Newport, RI, have donated their services to add an additional 800 square feet of living space to make it a more practical space for faculty housing. They also are working on site-layout and aesthetic features to try to soften the structure's radical and innovative contemporary design. The original part of the house is constructed of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) made from a thick layer of foam (polystyrene or polyurethane) sandwiched between two layers of Oriented Strand Board (OSB), plywood or fiber-cement. The structure is equipped with Viessmann 300 series tube-type solar panels and Sanyo Photovoltaic solar panels, energy-recovery ventilation system, radiant heating and cooling, thermal mass storage units, and will feature Energy Star® appliances.
Director of Operations and Project Manager Paul Jestings has arranged for the house, which has already been constructed, to be delivered to the southeast end of the campus close to the School's wind turbine, once the foundation work is completed. In part because of the success of the wind turbine project, last October RISD offered to donate to the School its 2005 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon prize-winning solar house. When Jestings was made aware that RISD was searching for an appropriate home for this unique house, he seized the opportunity for the School. "With all the work we have done and continue to do on renewable projects, it seemed like the perfect fit," he recalls. "The Solar House was a wonderful research experience led by RISD Architecture faculty and students, and we are very pleased that it has found a permanent home at Portsmouth Abbey," added RISD Provost Jay Coogan.
The house, which will be used as a single-family faculty dwelling, features two bedrooms, heliotropic louvers, variable lighting settings according to space function, solar surfaces, a roof garden, and heating, cooling and ventilation systems. The house will be placed near the upper entrance to the School, giving it easy access not only for school classes and tours but also for outside visitors. It should be completed and ready for occupancy sometime during the summer.
View photos of the groundbreaking.
