Architecture Students Create Structure to Display Information about K-State's Solar Powered House

Reprinted Courtesy of K-State Media Relations and Marketing

Fourth-year architecture students at Kansas State University have created a structure where visitors to K-State’s solar-powered home can relax comfortably and learn more about the environmentally sustainable home.

Jim Middlebrook, visiting assistant professor of architecture, had students in his spring 2007 fourth-year studio class design and build a structure that will be displayed alongside K-State’s entry in the 2007 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., this fall. Middlebrook’s students created a unit that will be installed adjacent to the solar-powered house when it’s on display at the National Mall in October. The structure includes informational displays, seating, shade and lighting.

“In harmony with the materials of the solar house, the design incorporates recycled wood from a Kansas barn as cladding,” Middlebrook said. “It incorporated digitally controlled routing to precisely shape the plywood fins of the sun screen, and the entire unit is optimized for easy assembly, disassembly and transportation.”

Many of the construction materials for the structure were donated by Star Lumber & Supply of Manhattan.

Students in the fourth-year studio who worked on the project include Anthon Ellis, Green Bay, WI; David Hildebrandt, Kansas City, KS; Kelly Krob, Salina, KS; Garrett Peace, Kansas City, MO; Joseph Stock, St. Joseph, MO; and Luke Stricklin, Mission, KS.

More information about the Solar Decathlon may be found at http://solarhouse.capd.ksu.edu/ or at http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon/.