How Big Bucks Competitions To Solve Problems Are Changing the World

Open Source Competitions With Serious Prize Money Create International Strategies To Solve Problems

by Paul McGinniss

2010 Award Ceremony for the Zayed Future Energy Prize, Abu Dhabi

What's the incentive to solve worldwide problems so large the solutions almost seem impossible? How about multi million dollar prizes and access to the most powerful people in the world to realize your dreams? In the past few years there's been a renaissance of world-changing competitions that are sparking international scientific research and creating incredible, socially-conscious dialog. This groundbreaking paradigm is called incentivized competition. The dynamic competition process unifies students and corporate leaders, academics and entrepreneurs, world leaders and diverse populations.


Here are some of the World Competitions that were established to tackle specific problems in exciting and profound ways:

Zayed Future Energy Prize: Middle East Efforts For A Clean Energy Future

One of the coolest prizes to be launched in the past few years is the Zayed Future Energy Prize which was started by the United Arab Emirates in 2008. The prize is named after the late Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former ruler of Abu Dhabi and founding father of the U.A.E. The yearly prize awards $1.5 million to individuals, NGOs, corporations or other organizations "for their excellence in the innovation, development and implementation of sustainable energy solutions." Up to two finalists will also receive $350,000 each. The prize "seeks to encourage innovation across a wide spectrum of renewable energy solutions, energy conservation and sustainability."

The Zayed prize demonstrates the amazing interest around the world in these large prize competitions. In 2009 there were just 204 entries to the Zayed Future Energy Prize, but the 2011 Prize competition has exploded to 633 entries from 86 countries. (Applications for the 2011 prize are open until Oct 8, 2010.)

The Zayed prize also demonstrates the range and diversity of organizations that participate in this open source, international exchange of ideas. The 2010 Prize was won by the large corporation, Toyota, for the company's groundbreaking fuel efficiency system in the third generation Prius. On the other end of the spectrum, one of the other winners of the 2010 prize was International Development Enterprises which was selected for its successful deployment of low cost, energy saving irrigation technology for small scale farmers in India. Judges for the 2011 prize include architect extraordinaire Lord Norman Foster, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland and Susan Hockfield, President of M.I.T.

The X Prize Foundation: Mind Blowing Brilliance



The X Prize Foundation has a motto: "Revolution Through Competition". Revolutionary, indeed. The foundation is an educational non-profit that designs and administers competitions with prizes of up to $30 million. Yes, you read that correctly--up to $30 million dollars! That's serious money and it's no surprise there's great interest from Pakistan to Peoria in the X Prize competitions.

I've been to X Prize events and I can tell you what they are doing is incredibly exciting and inspirational. The foundation was established "to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity." The X Prize Foundation states: "We believe that a small group of people with passion for a cause can achieve that which has never been attained. This is why we stage competitions that challenge issues that matter most."

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE was one of the latest efforts from the X PRIZE Foundation. Three teams were awarded part of a $10 million purse for developing super fuel-efficient vehicles. The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE was launched in 2008 to inspire a new generation of viable, safe and super fuel-efficient vehicles capable of achieving at least 100 miles per gallon or the energy equivalent (MPGe).

The X PRIZE Foundation, like the Zayed Future Energy Prize, also focuses on needs in the developing world. It is now working on a new prize with the Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Indian Institute of Technology to create a global competition to develop and deploy clean and efficient cookstoves. Details of the competition, including the announcement of the launch date, prize purse and competition guidelines, are forthcoming.


Saltire Prize: Scottish Prize to Tap Into Wave Power



The Government of Scotland has organized a 10 million pound competition to seek the best ways to tap into the world's wave power to generate clean electricity. The purpose of the Saltire Prize is "to stimulate innovation across the world that will lead to delivery of commercial scale wave or tidal stream energy technology." £10 million will be awarded to the team that can demonstrate in Scottish waters a commercially viable wave or tidal stream energy technology that achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over the set minimum hurdle of 100 GWh over a continuous 2 year period using only the power of the sea. Applications are due by 2015.

The Scottish Government was motivated by a number of factors in setting this challenge including the following. Inspiring innovation that will help to harness Scotland's immense marine energy resources and achieve the national renewable energy target of 50% of Scotland's electricity consumption being generated through renewable sources by 2020. And, inspiring innovation that will help to achieve Scotland's carbon reduction target of an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050.

Copyright 2010 Paul McGinniss

Passive House Concept from Germany Taking Off In America

The R House Project in Syracuse, New York Shows That
Zero Energy Homes Are More About Smart Design & Building Than Renewable Technology

by Paul McGinniss

View from Backyard of R House in Syracuse which is now being built as part of "From the Ground Up" building competition. The home was designed to fit into an existing urban landscape.

The R House was one of the winners of a recent building competition called "From the Ground Up" which was held in conjunction with the Syracuse Center of Excellence and Syracuse-based Home Headquarters as part of their initiative to revitalize the near west side neighborhood of Syracuse.

A goal of the competition was "to draw out the most advanced thinking about design, sustainability, and cost-effective building practices." And, draw out the most advanced, cost-effective thinking, it did. The 1,150 sf R House, which has an additional 1,150 sf in the basement, was built for only $125,000 and was designed to be an almost-zero-energy home, meaning it will consume almost no energy at all. The small amount of energy it uses can be easily offset by adding some minimal renewable technology.

Picture of R House Model at various proposed locations in Syracuse.

The home was built according to the Passive House (Passivhaus in German)
criteria which adheres to the concept that homes can be so well designed and built they need no conventional heating and cooling systems whatsoever. The R House is one of only a few homes in the U.S. built under the standards established by the Passiv Haus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany.

David White of Brooklyn-based Right Environments consulted on the project and explained some technical details: "The main heating system is a hot water coil in the fresh air stream. This is the classic Passive House heating system. The original Passivhaus concept was based on heating the house by doing no more than heating up the (circulating) fresh air (which was needed anyway for hygienic reasons). This eliminated the normal boiler, pump, hot water piping and radiator with thermostat in every room that is typical in Germany where the Passivhaus system originated."

Picture of R House under construction this summer. Competing teams in the "Built From the Ground Up" competition had eight weeks to develop designs for a low-cost, sustainable home capable of being built for no more than $150,000 inclusive of fees and site work.

The R of R House refers to R value of insulation and it was no huge surprise to learn the house has R-70 insulation and an extra thick frame filled with blown cellulose insulation that creates an air tight house.

The design of R House was a collaborative process executed by the team of NYC-based architects Della Valle Bernheimer and Architecture Research Office. David White reported that he "introduced the Passive House concept to the team, critiqued many iterations of formal concepts, gave guidelines for glazing ratios, developed the construction details for thermal insulation and air tightness, did all the energy and peak load calculations, designed the entire mechanical system and trouble shot the air leakage."

Picture of R House Initial Frame. The finished interior will have insulation that is 16" deep with a value of approximately R-70.

Garrick Jones, studio director of Della Valle Bernheimer, was very excited to be part of the R House project and told me: "The Passive House tenets are hard to achieve, but basic. In a Passive House it takes very little energy to heat and cool. We incorporated an HRV system which captures the heat as it exhausts the air. The home is inspired by the Passive House model which is an amalgamation of thirty years of green and net zero practices." Garrick emphasized the basic tenets of Passive House design: "Design an air tight envelope, have high R value walls and windows, locate and size the windows correctly and utilize passive solar gain from the south."

Garrick Jones let me in on some breaking news. Della Valle Bernheimer has developed a pre fab inspired by Passive House principles to market with Hometta, a design-oriented home company. (Garrick Jones clarified that the Hometta design is based on Passive House principles but is not necessarily to be designed and/or built strictly by Passive House standards and registered and tested by the Passive House Institute.)

In speaking with members of the team behind R House, I learned that the house was not exactly net zero energy. The house uses natural gas to heat both the hot water and heating coil in the air system. This I did not like because of my aversion to Natural Gas and all the downsides and environmental costs associated with extracting gas from the ground, especially by hydraulic fracturing. The R House also has a few small electric heaters as back up.

But, all in all, the R House performs extremely well, using a small fraction of the energy that similar sized homes use. Besides, for not an unreasonable additional up front cost, the gas used in the R House could be offset by investing in a solar thermal hot water system. Or, the home could utilize an on demand electric hot water heater for the domestic hot water and to heat the heating coil for the air system. The electric used by the on demand heater could easily be offset with a small solar PV system.

David White explained further: "On the coldest day of the year a typical passive house can be heated with the amount of energy from a hair dryer. Strictly speaking, we did not get that low. The amount of glass made it so that we need about the equivalent of 1.5 (1 1/2) hair dryers or so, although all that glass also means less energy used over the course of the winter." (As a result of passive solar gain.)

The R House designers state: "Wrapped within its iconic exterior are expansive and luminous spaces..."

The real exciting point to the Passive House concept is it shows us how to practically build an almost zero net energy home which does not over rely on expensive renewable technology or fancy bells and whistles. Yes, Green technology is extremely important. Yet, technology can almost make us immune to understanding that energy efficiency and cutting back on the initial consumption and demand for power is far more renewable than the renewable technology that is breaking into the market.

The R House and Passive House concept stands as a testament that building zero energy homes, even in climates that can get very cold and/or very hot, is feasible and affordable right now and not just in the far distant future. There is just no excuse not to do it.


The designers of the R House intended to "present an affordable, innovative paradigm for minimal to net-zero energy consumption embodied in architecture that is meant to nurture the spirit and engage the community as much as it is meant to perform in terms of cost and sustainability."

I spoke with inventor Brian Wiley of Wiley Electronics who plans to build a Passive House in Ulster County, NY. In explaining why he chose to build a Passive House, Brian said he was not happy with the way most people were building homes today. So, he took a Passive House training course in Boston to learn how to build his own home in Woodstock, NY. Brian was very enthusiastic about the training program: "The great thing was to connect with a lot of people building this way. The Passive House idea is to reduce the amount of energy needed. Reducing energy needed is so much easier to fulfill than finding new sources of energy."

The R House and the Passive House building method demonstrates that hi tech green building is low tech to start and, really, a simple concept.

As Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak--author of the legendary novel Doctor Zhivago--told his ambitious friend Vladimir Mayakovsky--the futurist Russian revolutionary writer who wanted desperately to change the world: "Despite all your grand schemes and revelations, sometimes simplicity is the greatest need."

For more information about Passive Houses check out the Passive Institute US (PHIUS)

Copyright 2010 Paul McGinniss

Read More About Passive Houses By Buying Some Books on the Subject
 


CHECK OUT THIS INFORMATIVE VIDEO ABOUT THE R HOUSE
(PLEASE click twice so video opens full screen in new tab)

LUMENHAUS: A brighter way. Everyday.

A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO DAYLIGHT: Virginia Tech's LUMENHAUS Snags Top Prize at European Solar Decathlon

By Paul McGinniss


The LUMENHAUS at Times Square in NYC before it traveled to Madrid, Spain

The Virginia Tech Solar Decathlon team is flying like a high altitude wind turbine after winning the amazing European Solar Decathlon which just took place June 18th - 27th in Madrid, Spain. With 17 University teams from 7 countries (China, Spain, Finland, United Kingdom, United States, Germany), the competition to build the most efficient and clever zero energy home is a sister show to the United States Department of Energy Solar Decathlon which takes place every two years on the Mall in Washington, DC.

Virginia Tech's win comes after years of hard work and research. The school has participated in four previous Solar Decathlons including the U.S. Department of Energy Sponsored 2009 Solar Decathlon where the university placed only 13th with its entry.

LUEMNHAUS on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. During the United States Department of Energy 2009 Solar Decathlon

When Virginia Tech took the top honors at the Solar Decathlon Europe awards ceremony last week in Madrid, Spain, they received a standing ovation. Teams from Germany won both the 2007 and 2009 U.S. Solar Decathlon, so it was great to see a team from America so honored while besting the German team and the other exciting, cutting edge, zero energy concept homes from around the world. This win by an American University is of particular importance for our country. The United States is behind the curve on use of renewable energy systems and there is a crucial need to encourage deployment of renewable technologies. Countries such as Germany consistently outperform America in both manufacturing and use of practical, affordable renewable energy systems for homes and buildings. The United States needs to be at the forefront of renewables both for economic and security issues.


The Student Team from Virginia Tech with Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Energy, Steven Chu

The importance of the United States participating in and winning international competitions supporting renewable energy use in homes can not be overstated. Breakthrough Institute senior adviser and Stanford University professor, Teryn Norris, recently referred in an email blast to a new Time Magazine Special History Issue which reports that "clean power could be to the
21st century what aeronautics and the computer were to the 20th, but the U.S. is already falling behind. China, South Korea and Japan are set to invest more than $500 billion combined in clean technology over the next five years, while the U.S. is likely to invest less than $200 billion, and that’s assuming [current] clean-energy legislation makes it into law. Meanwhile, Congress remains largely paralyzed."


Members of the Virginia Tech Lumenhaus team celebrate victory.

Teryn Norris, who is also Director & Founder of Americans for Energy Leadership,
goes on to state: "When the United States aims to overcome a challenge -- be it defeating fascism, leading the space race, or winning the Cold War -- we make a national commitment and invest the necessary resources. The federal government currently invests $30 billion per year in health R&D through the National Institutes of Health, and $80 billion per year in military R&D. Energy receives $3 to $5 billion -- less than our national expenditure on potato chips."



Over 190,000 visited "Villa Solar" where the student teams built the homes in Madrid. The European Solar Decathlon reported: "Today, the Villa Solar has closed its doors, after 10 days of competition, with the last award ceremony announcing the winner of the Solar Decathlon Europe. The house, LUMENHAUS, from the team from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, has been pronounced the most efficient of the competition, and following it in second and third place, respectively, were the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim and the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences."

Below is information from Virgina Tech and the U.S DOE Solar Decathlon which details components of the Virginia Tech House:

Inspiration

The Virgina Tech team reports that LUMENHAUS was "Inspired by the Farnsworth House by Mies Van Der Rohe, and the house offers an open configuration which connects the house's inhabitants to the outdoors.

Design

The interior and exterior of the house are joined together by a smooth transition when the Eclipsis System is open, contributing to a feeling of transparency. When the weather is nice, the windows can be opened to expand both the physical and psychological appearance of the space. The floor of the house doubles in size, and the southern and northern walls disappear to make the rooms seem as if they have no barriers or limitations. The multilayered wall-changing system allows for various forms of spatial organization and therefore different perceptions of the house. The central core plays an important role in allowing different configurations in the house's interior.

Exterior depicting the Eclipsis System. The Eclipsis system is an advanced building façade comprising two layers: a metal shutter shade and a translucent insulating panel.

Each area of the house is set up for specific activities, but they are designed to be flexible and can be adjusted according to individual needs. For example, the doors within the central core incorporate the work area, storage and entertainment units, but may be shifted to close off the bedroom from the rest of the house in order to create a more private area. The kitchen can be transformed into a bar, and the dining table can be left outdoors during warm summer evenings. The modular design also means that the entire house is flexible and that multiple units can be connected or placed one above the other (connected by stairs) to create a house with 3 or 4 bedrooms.

Technology

From its construction to its transportation, the house employs responsive architecture and other similarly advanced technological features.

Radiating heat in the concrete floor

The concrete floor features a radiating floor heating system. This heats the house through a geothermal pump which draws in heat during the winter and cools the floor during the summer. This procedure requires less energy use, making the house more efficient. In addition, the geothermal heat pump produces hot water as a byproduct during the summer.

Photovoltaic System

The rooftop photovoltaic system has the ability to vary its angle in order to maximize the efficiency of the power gained from the sun. It is controlled through a computerized user interface that can be connected to an iPhone. In fact, the user can control all of the functions, including the Eclipsis System, the photovoltaic system, the temperature, the electricity and the entertainment devices with the simple use of an iPhone.

Here are some links to news about LUMENHAUS on the green blogosphere:

Inhabitat

Jetson Green

Popular Mechanics

Fast Company

TreeHugger

From its inception, the creation of LUMENHAUS was documented in the ten-minute video produced by Summer Productions. Check it out:



All Pictures Above Courtesy Virginia Tech. Article Text Copyright Paul McGinniss 2010