TEAM BeauSoleil Still Celebrating Win

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Two years ago, a team of architecture and engineering students from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette set out to build a sustainable, solar-powered home. They accomplished their goal – the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home.

The home has been at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. since early October to compete in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. It’s the only team from Louisiana to ever compete in a solar decathlon and its among 20 teams from across the globe competing in this year’s contest.

Tomorrow, teams will celebrate their accomplishments with an awards ceremony at 8 a.m.

TEAM BeauSoleil from UL Lafayette is celebrating its first place win in Market Viability awarded earlier this week. A jury evaluated the homes on the following criteria:

• Livability – How well the home fits the specific needs of a targeted homeowner and whether it is a safe, comfortable, and convenient place to live,

• Buildability – Whether the home can be built efficiently at a cost-competitive price and constructed the way the team intended it to be built, and

• Marketability – How well the house’s curb appeal, interior appeal, quality craftsmanship, as well as its sustainability features and integration of solar technology, offer potential homebuyers a good value.

TEAM BeauSoleil scored 97 out of 100 possible points.

“We paid a lot of attention to what our culture is all about – our climate, our kitchen,” said Gretchen Lacombe Vanicor, project manager. “We knew from the beginning we had to make this home for the people of Acadiana and Louisiana.”

The Department of Energy will host the official awards ceremony Friday morning. The Engineering Award along with the first, second and third place overall winners will be announced. In addition, a People’s Choice Award will be announced. To vote for TEAM BeauSoleil, text HOUSE76 to 99503. Voting polls close at midnight tonight.

For more information on TEAM BeauSoleil, visit www.beausoleilhome.org.

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Hot Water Flowing Again!

Finally success with our hot water tests! At last we were able to get enough pressure and temperature with our new water heater and receive full points on one draw and half on another. Although we did not do as well as we expected on the communications contest we are still thrilled with winning the Market Viability contest! We had our Lighting Design and Engineering juries today and we expect to do well in these.

TEAM BEAUSOLEIL IS TOPS IN MARKET VIABILITY CONTEST

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home was designed and built by Louisiana students for Louisiana residents. Judges for the Market Viability contest in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon recognized that.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette team placed first in the contest. Judges were looking for homes that answered the needs of their clients.

TEAM BeauSoleil designed for Louisiana residents who face harsh summers and hurricanes.

“The (BeauSoleil) house hit on all cylinders,” said Joyce Mason, Market Viability judge and vice president for marketing with Pardee Homes. “We were so impressed with the degree to which the team listened to their market. They didn’t impose their ideas or try to infer them upon their residents.”

The team is one of 20 university teams from across the globe competing in the Solar Decathlon on the National Mall. TEAM BeauSoleil is the only team from Louisiana to ever participate in this contest held every two years.

“We knew from the beginning that if we couldn’t bring this home to the people of Louisiana, we wouldn’t accomplish anything,” said Gretchen Lacombe Vanicor, BeauSoleil project manager. “We paid a lot of attention to our Cajun culture and produced a product that is viable.”

The house is designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and to be totally self-sufficient, which makes it especially ideal for coastal environments.

It also reflects key elements of Louisiana's rich culture, including its world-famous Cajun
cooking. At the same time, it represents an architectural heritage that developed after Acadians, who were exiled from Nova Scotia by the British in the 1700s, settled in south Louisiana. The result is a simple, modest, but highly functional 800-square-foot structure.

The BeauSoleil Home design incorporates several aspects of early Cajun cottages. For example, it emphasizes wide exterior porches for social interaction and casual entertaining, as well as movable exterior doors in the '”dog-trot” that make access to the outside easy. The home also has a large kitchen that is the cultural center of the home. Good conversation and great food, important elements of Louisiana's culture, flow naturally from this functional space.

This structure accommodates Louisiana’s sometimes-challenging climate. Long, hot summers are the norm, so the BeauSoleil Home takes advantage of natural breezes and utilizes several dual-purpose shutters, while collecting its own water and generating more energy than it uses.

Interesting Facts about the BeauSoleil Solar Home

Yesterday, more than 2,200 people visit the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home. They were all treated to a little joie de vivre -- Cajun style!

More visitors came by today and even more are expected tomorrow for Columbus Day.

Below are some interesting facts about our home and our homesite in D.C. Enjoy!

length of the home= 49'-9" feet

width of the home= 13'-10"

weight of the home= approx. 40,000 lbs.

height of the home= 17'-6"

square footage of the home including transitional porch= 790 sf

type of windows: Jeldwen Aluminum Clad Wood Windows with insulated, Low-E glass

type of wood siding (rainscreen)= new growth cypress sealed with water-based sealer

number of PV panels= 39 (23 -205 watt and 13 -195 watt bi-facial panels)

panels are Sanyo (17% efficient)

2 Zantrex inverters- one 5kW and one 4 kW

anticipated LEED rating of home = Platinum

lifetime of PV Modules= approx. 20 years

date BeauSoleil, the band, will play on the porch of the home in DC = Oct. 16th

amount the the site on the national mall slopes= almost 18"

slope of the roof= 6-5/8 : 12 (approx 29 degrees)

thickness of the walls when finished= 9"

thinkness of the roof when finished= 10"

the roof of the transitional porch is made of alumnum and corrugated polycarbonate

the solar water heater storage tank capacity= 40 gallons

the plumbing and mechanical contractor assisting TEAM BeauSoleil= Moulis Mechanical

the electrical contractor assisting TEAm BeauSoleil= EP Breaux Electrical

deck material=ipe

floors- white oak

caniets inkitchen- cypress

cabnets/shelves in bedroom- oak

interior doors- old growth, reclaimed cypress

sprayed foam insulation is Agribalance (soy-based foam)

low-flow plumbing fixtures are Kohler

Our Bedroom View

What an incredible view! This is a one of a kind view we will never
have again. Just imagine what our lot on the National Mall would cost
if we had to buy it! $2 million? Probably $70 million!

We had our architecture, market viability and communication's juries
today. We feel very good about how they received the home. There
were multiple "wows!" from the market viabilty jury when they saw our
kitchen and bathroom! Sarah Susanka, on the architecture jury, said
she loved our herb wall and wanted to use the idea in one of her
projects! She was snapping pictures like crazy in our home.

All in all, we feel blessed. Especially yesterday after our Blessing
of the Home by Father Chester Arceneaux, from Our Lady of Wisdom.
After the blessing, an air of calm and peace prevailed. Thank you
Father Chester!

We were also honored with the presence of Dr. Joseph Savoie for the last two
days. President Savoie even helped pick up trash and arrange our
water plants. Our President is truly "hands-on" and more importantly,
he cares deeply about our students.

Finally, Dean Gordon Brooks, Vice-president Ken Ardoin and Charles Triche as well
as several over UL administrators , staff and alumni have all lent
their support and good will. Thank you Gordon for the ribbon for our
ribbon-cutting!

Geoff Gjertson

TEAM BeauSoleil: Day 1 of Competition

TEAM BeauSoleil from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette opened the competition of the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon with a load of dishes and a load of laundry.

The team was one of nine that qualified to compete in the first day’s tests. Teams had to pass all inspections Wednesday night to qualify. TEAM BeauSoleil is among 20 teams this year including Cornell, the Ohio State, Virginia Tech and the 2007 winner Technische Universitat Darmstadt from Germany.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu cut the ceremonial ribbon, marking the start of the 2009 event.

“Competitions like these bring out the best in students,” Chu said. “We hope they will take away what they’ve learned for their careers and their lives.”

TEAM BeauSoleil is the only Louisiana team to ever compete in the Solar Decathlon, which is held every two years. It’s made up of students all from UL Lafayette and has the same dedicated core since the project’s inception. The students completed 90 percent of the home’s construction, a unique aspect of the team.

“It’s been a busy day, but I think we did well,” said Dr. Geoff Gjertson, faculty leader for TEAM BeauSoleil. “Tomorrow the juries will be entering the homes for judging. This will continue throughout the competition.”

The team welcomed a wave of visitors to the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home after the opening ceremony including UL Lafayette President Dr. Joseph Savoie.

“It’s amazing to see the talent of these students. For two years now, they’ve been designing, building, fundraising and working hard. They deserve to be here on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.,” said Savoie.

The BeauSoleil home reflects key elements of Louisiana's rich culture, including its world-famous Cajun cooking. At the same time, it represents an architectural heritage that developed after Acadians, who were exiled from Nova Scotia by the British in the 1700s, settled in south Louisiana. The result is a simple, modest, but highly functional 800-square-foot structure.

It will be part of the Solar Village on the National Mall until Oct. 18. Public tours start Oct. 9 and continue through Oct. 13 and on Oct. 15 – 18. There are no tours on Oct. 14.

Follow TEAM BeauSoleil at www.beausoleilhome.org.

We Passed! We Passed! We Passed!

WOW!!! What an amazing day for TEAM BeauSoleil! WE pulled it all together
and passed all of our inspections with only minutes to spare. This is a
brief timeline:

6:00 PM - We were still having trouble with our breakers. I even called
home and asked my family to start praying for us because the thought of not
being able to start the competition was heartbreaking.

6:30 PM - We all stayed calm and came up with the solution. A local
electrical supply store even stayed open late so one of our faculty
advisors could buy some more breakers.

7:00 PM - The breakers arrive and we change them.

7:15 PM - Mr. Conway comes back and the new breakers
work. Unfortunately the outlets were wrong so we still could not pass.

7:15 PM - 7:20 PM - WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?

7:20 PM - 7:30 PM - We run up and down the mall asking other teams if they
could loan some outlets to us.

7:30 PM - 7:45 PM -We changed all the outlets and PASSED our final
electrical inspection.

7:55 PM - Call for final inspection and PASS!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight, I witnessed the most incredible teamwork I have EVER seen. It was
absolutely inspiring. WE worked together, kept our cool, and solved the
problem. This is part of what makes our TEAM so special. We ALL truly
believe in what we are doing and are very proud to represent our
university, our culture and our state.

I would like to thank Mrs. T, Mrs. Billie, Father Chester and everyone back
home who were praying for us (I really think this helped us through) and
our incredible faculty members for helping us solve this problem. Also, we
owe a huge amount of gratitude to the other Solar Decathlon teams (TEAM
Missouri, The University of Arizona, The Ohio State University, University
of Kentucky, and Universidad de Puerto Rico) who were so kind to help us
out. We truly could not have done it without you!

So,it is here! We have finally made it. It is truly an amazing feeling to
be here with my TEAM. We were definitely blessed tonight.

Gretchen Vanicor