UMDs ‘WaterShed’ To Debut Solar-Water Innovation, Conservation
Countdown to Competition for UMD Solar Decathlon Team
September 20, 2011
WaterShed is the University of Maryland’s entry in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011, and will be open to the public Friday, Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. in West Potomac Park along with the other 19 finalists. Media preview day is Wednesday, Sept. 21, and opening ceremonies will be held Thursday, Sept. 22.
The international competition challenges 20 finalist collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The Maryland team – the only finalist from the state and the Washington, D.C. area – is led by the University's students, faculty and professional mentors.
“These students from diverse disciplines effectively formed a cohesive team to imagine, invent, and make real the project we call WaterShed,” says the project’s principal investigator Amy Gardner, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Maryland. “Interdisciplinary problem solving is the way forward towards a more sustainable future.”
Inspired by the Chesapeake Bay, the power of WaterShed’s design comes from its twin focus on efficient, renewable energy and water quality and conservation, she adds. It harvests, recycles and reuses water, while harmonizing modernity, tradition, and simple building strategies. The house balances time-tested best practices and advanced technological solutions to achieve high efficiency performance in an affordable manner.
WaterShed integrates a unique array of sustainable features, including
- A split-butterfly roof, well-suited to capture and use both sunlight and rainwater;
- Constructed wetlands that filter stormwater and greywater (household water with limited contaminants);
- A green roof to retain rainwater and promote efficient cooling;
- A photovoltaic array to harvest enough solar energy to power WaterShed year-round;
- A solar thermal array to fulfill all domestic hot water needs;
- "Edible landscapes" that support community-based agriculture;
- Patent-pending indoor, liquid desiccant waterfall for high-efficiency humidity control;
- An efficient, cost-effective, durable and time-tested structural system.
“Taken together, these design features make WaterShed less thirsty for fossil fuels than standard homes and less dependent on costly water purifying infrastructure,” explain team members Allison Wilson and Leah Davies. “The house acts as a micro-ecosystem that encourages residents to live a more sustainable lifestyle – not only by conserving but also by capturing and reusing natural resources.”
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh describes WaterShed as “a model for how to live in harmony with the complex ecosystem of the largest estuary in the United States.” The project, he adds, “fulfills the mission of a 21st century Land Grant University by applying intellectual resources to make “a real-life impact” – in this case, “contributing to sustainability.”
DEHUMIDIFYING INDOOR WATERFALL
Among WaterShed’s innovations is the patent-pending indoor waterfall, which first debuted in the team’s 2007 entry in the competition, LEAFHouse. “The waterfall provides humidity control in an aesthetically pleasing manner, and quickly brought an explosion of interest,” explains Gardner, who served as principal investigator on both LEAFHouse and WaterShed.
Maryland Engineering Professor Reinhard Rademacher proposed that a system like this one could work, and students proceeded to develop it. “Student entrepreneurship and innovation suffuses this whole competition,” says University of Maryland Dean of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, David Cronrath.
BUILDING ON SUCCESS
In 2007, the Maryland team placed second overall and first among U.S. participants. WaterShed builds on the success of that entry – LEAFHouse – and carries the design to the next level.
The Maryland Solar Decathlon Team involves students and faculty from the Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, the A. James Clark School of Engineering, the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, the University Libraries, and the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Maryland businesses and professional groups are providing significant support as well.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Leah Davies
Team PR Ambassador
813-382-5423
daviesln1@gmail.com
Maggie Haslam, Communicator
School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
202-258-8946
Maggiehaslam6@hotmail.com
Neil Tickner, Communicator
University of Maryland
301-405-4622
ntickner@umd.edu
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