SOUTHFIELD ? Denso International America and Masco Corporation Foundation are challenging the Michigan business community to support Team ALOeTERRA, Lawrence Technological University’s entry in a prestigious international competition for building a solar-powered home.
Lawrence Tech is one of just 20 universities ? and the only one in Michigan ? competing in the U.S. Department of Energy?s Solar Decathlon competition to build an 800-square-foot home that supports its own energy needs through solar power and generates additional electricity to run a small vehicle and a home office. The field includes MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell and universities from Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico and Spain.
More than 30 Lawrence Tech students on Team ALOeTERRA will design and build a full-scale home to be disassembled, transported and reassembled as part of a ?solar village? exhibition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in September 2007.
Denso has committed $75,000 as a leadership gift. The leading automotive supplier wants to see other automotive companies in Michigan support efforts to improve energy sustainability in the United States, according to Denso Vice President John Voorhorst.
?Sustainability is one of Denso?s core values. As an international corporation, we feel a responsibility for stewardship of the earth?s natural resources,? Voorhorst said. ?Automotive companies in Michigan should be very supportive of projects like the Solar Decathlon competition.?
Masco Corporation Foundation is contributing $50,000. Its sponsoring company, Masco Corporation, is a world leader in the manufacture of home improvement and building products and is providing an additional gift of home products in support of the construction project.
?Many of our products are targeted at increasing energy efficiency. We support the Solar Decathlon competition because it is focused on identifying new strategies for reducing energy consumption in our homes,? said Melonie Colaianne, president of Masco?s foundation and director of corporate affairs at Masco. ?We are committed to sustainable practices and look for partnerships with reputable organizations that share the same commitment.?
Focusing on Michigan manufacturers for technical and architectural solutions is a major goal for Team ALOeTERRA. It is a strategy that reduces transportation costs associated with construction and focuses on local skills and assets, according to Philip Plowright, the lead faculty advisor for the team.
?Energy and resource sustainability is a global issue, but the solutions have to be implemented locally,? Plowright said.
Lawrence Tech alumni, faculty and staff have also been very supportive of the Solar Decathlon team, contributing more than $125,000 through the university?s annual giving campaign. In addition to a $100,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant, each competing university is expected to raise funds it needs to design, build and furnish the prototype home. Lawrence Tech anticipates the total cost of its entry, including transporting the house to and from Washington, D.C., will be in excess of $500,000. Contributions so far total over $360,000.
The majority of the Lawrence Tech student competitors are balanced between the university?s College of Architecture and Design, which is the fifth-largest in the country and has a curriculum in sustainability, and the College of Engineering, which has been very active in alternative-energy research.
The 20 university teams in the Solar Decathlon competition will be judged in 10 categories: architecture, market viability, communications about the house, comfort, appliances, hot water, lighting, efficiency of the battery system and the distance an electric vehicle can travel on the home?s surplus electricity.
For more information about Team ALOeTERRA at Lawrence Tech, click on Solar.LTU.Edu
