Lanna Semel touches down after 2011 Solar Decathlon in D.C.

Lanna Semel, HGHS Class of 2001, with her parents, Doreen and Joel Semel, cozy and dry inside CHIP at the 2011 Solar Decathlon; more photos in “Read more…” and in Photo Gallery
Monday, October 11, 2011
by Christine Yeres

For the last year of her time as a graduate student in architecture at Southern California Institute of Architecture in downtown Los Angeles, Lanna Semel labored with team members from Cal Tech to construct a full-scale mock up of the sustainable solar house they brought to Washington, D.C. this autumn for the Department of Energy’s fifth biennial Solar Decathlon.

Their design, CHIP, or “Compact Hyper-Insulated Prototype,” was the two schools’ joint entry in the contest.  CHIP was specially constructed to be divided—vertically, then horizontally—it into four pieces, shipped to D.C. and bolted back together.

SCI-Arc/CalTech was one of 16 Continental U.S. participants (Hawaii dropped out for lack of funding) and four international teams from Belgium, Canada, China and New Zealand.  Student teams designed, constructed and funded the projects – through both “in kind” and cash donations—themselves.  The remaining 19 competing schools all made use of materials that are cutting-edge in energy efficiency, inner workings and appliances with renewable energy systems.

Only one house design was fairly traditional in appearance, a couple of others made playful reference to elements of the traditional house and the majority were modern.  CHIP was downright futuristic, wearing its insulation on its Jetson-like exterior in the form of a big, white, quilted puffy jacket.

CHIP, SCI-Arc/CalTech’s “Compact Hyper-Insulated Prototype” entry in the U.S. Department of Energy 2011 Solar Decathlon; its solar panels are set at a jaunty angle on top

The budget for CHIP was $1.2 million, all in.  That included materials, labor (other than student), transportation for CHIP and the team, lodging in D.C. and the craning necessary to pick CHIP up in California and put it down on the Mall in D.C.  There, the 40-member team spent seven days working three eight-hour shifts a day to re-assemble CHIP, ten days exhibiting and testing its energy sustainability, and four days to break it down and ship it back to the West Coast.

CHIP’s frame is of “engineered” lumber, laminated plywood much stronger than typical 2 x 4’s or 2 x 6’s.  Inside, CHIP held 733 square feet of living space on several levels – an open floor plan, with a separation of uses—from a sunken living room area with sliding glass doors on its lower side to a middle level with kitchen and an upper bedroom area cantilevered out to provide a shaded parking space (remember: CHIP was created in L.A.) beneath it.

A student-designed set of curvaceous chartreuse modular chairs fit like puzzle pieces into their storage area against a wall.  Prefabricated cupboards could be moved, as needed, to different places on the walls.  CHIP could be reproduced—furniture and all—for around $262,000.

Ten categories of 100 points each

“Each team started with the same set of rules and each took it in a very different direction,” said Semel. “We’re all rated in ten categories each worth 100 points, for a total of 1,000 points.  Five hundred are measurements; 500 are more subjective,” she explained.  The categories were:

• Architecture

• Market Appeal

• Engineering

• Communications

• Affordability

• Comfort Zone

• Hot Water

• Appliances

• Home Entertainment

• Energy Balance

To see the scores for each contestant in each of the ten categories, click HERE.

“The washer and dryer, sink, fridge, the lights – everything has to work,” explained Semel.  Each house is built to meet inspection standards in its state of origin, including those governing mechanical, electrical and plumbing, and is inspected all along the way.  Fundraising became easier once the CHIP began to materialize, said Semel.  “We were very lucky to have donors who were extremely supportive of sustainability, especially with something like solar panels which—even though the payoff over 20 years is so great—are such expensive up-front costs.”

“As it turned out, eight of the ten exhibition days in D.C. were overcast,” noted Semel, “but still we had great performance from our solar panels.”  Rain fell steadily and heavily on the solar village on its last weekend, October 1 and 2 (good thing the Department of Energy had laid down interlocking plastic squares forming walkways between the houses) and still CHIP remained net-zero in energy consumption.  That is, it produced more energy than it consumed.

In results announced on Saturday, October 1, CHIP came in sixth place overall, third place in affordability and second place in engineering.

“Ten or even five years ago, sustainability was a luxury,” said Semel, “but it’s more and more of a necessity as we go though the Earth’s resources.  People have more of an open mind about sustainability now. Hundreds of thousands of people come to tour the houses. The exhibition helps them to feel the idea.”

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The charms of CHIP, and of the competition

People stood in long lines in pouring rain and chilly temperatures to see each of the houses.  CHIP was a house whose line progressed very slowly.  Once inside, it was easy to see and feel why.  It was cozy despite the chilly temperatures. “Our hyper-insulation made it very easy to regulate the temperature,” explained Semel.

Q: What made CHIP so popular with visitors?

Semel: I think it was the strikingness of our exterior that caught people’s attention.  Once they stepped into it, I think it was our lighting system that kept them there. Our lighting was controlled through an X-Box called Kinect.  You could wave at the sensor, point to individual lights to turn them on and off.  Our blinds worked that way, too.  People really liked that.

Q: Did you have time to visit the other houses?

Semel: In our time in D.C. we tried to follow other competing projects. During the week, our tours of duty were four hours, in two hours shifts: two hours in CHIP, two hours free to walk around the village and see some of the others.

Q: Did you particularly admire features of any of the other houses?

Semel: A lot of teams had adjustable spaces, so that you cold move the walls and rearrange the living room, kitchen and bedroom spaces for that day’s purposes.  I liked that.  CHIP was open to that, too.  Our furniture and cabinets were pre-fab plug-in cabinets.  You could locate them on a different place on the wall. Pre-fab was lower-cost, too.

New Zealand’s was a beautiful design.  The craftsmanship was strong and beautiful. Tennessee had a nice philosophy.  They were able to get away without using a crane—they had built the house on a trailer that stayed under the house all during the exhibition. They could drive it away in one piece.  Maryland, the team that won first place overall for its house, “WaterShed,” participated in the Decathlon four years ago, then sat out the 2009 Decathlon. They were very well organized and had great resources.

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What next?

One of this year’s Solar Decathlon houses is returning to its campus and the school will pay a family to live in it for the year.  Another will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.  One was purchased by a private homeowner.

CHIP is in transit back to L.A. right now.  The company that provided SCI-Arc/CalTech with the solar panels bought CHIP. 

Semel came home last week following the Decathlon to visit her family – and to sleep.  She’s graduated from SCI-Arc and returns to L.A. this week to pack up her things and come home to start her job search.

Next Monday: Lanna Semel’s path from Greeley (Class of 2001) to Micronesia with the Peace Corps, and then to architecture school and CHIP.

. . .