The University of Minnesota won the grand prize at the Second Annual Department of Energy Race to Zero Student Competition. The winning group, team OptiMN, was made up of fourteen students from four different colleges that beat out 27 other colleges from the United States and Canada for the top prize.
Four presenters, Collin Coltman, Laurel Johnston, Peter Schneider, and Cavan Wagg went to Golden, Colorado to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to present their Impact Home. The Impact Home, which has 3 bedrooms & 1.5 bathrooms, provides the homeowner with excellent thermal insulation and deliberate vapor control. The house would be outfitted with the best of energy efficient appliances and technology, including solar panels on the roof. Nothing is wasted with the Impact Home, from spacing to window installation. OptiMN partnered with Urban Homeworks and Residential Science Resources on the project.
The DOE started the competition to excite the next generation of building science professionals, as well as develop and raise the curriculum for the universities. The competition is one of the newest government initiatives that promote energy efficiency and renewable resources.
OptiMN’s faculty advisor, Patrick Huelman, an associate professor at the U of M, was involved with the competition from the beginning: “There was an early meeting actually that I was involved with, where they kind of came out with the idea of Race to Zero, an experts meeting if you will.” The competition couldn’t come at a better time, because green homes are in demand now more than ever. That’s great news to Laurel Johnston, 25, OptiMN’s design leader who is finishing up her second Masters of Science in Sustainable Design. She learned about the competition from Huelman, after taking his class last fall. The competition has made her more excited than ever for the future of sustainability, “Winning the DOE Race to Zero competition has inspired me to work even harder toward my goal of becoming a sustainable architect”.
Above: Impact Home Design-Exterior
All of Race to Zero’s coursework was extracurricular, and some students had to have a full course load while designing and testing their Impact Home. Presenter Peter Schneider, 24, Residential Building Science and Technology Major (R&T), was one such student. His enthusiasm and knowledge made him an asset to the team. Schneider explains, “I had a very small part on the [Race to Zero] team last year so I heard about it then, and was craving to beat last year’s team and take home the grand prize.”
Above: Impact Home Design-Interior
The students had to watch two six-hour webinars, and read several articles. Unbeknownst to OptiMN, the author behind their textbooks, John Straube, was also one their judges. “It was pretty intense” says Colin Coltman, 21, Team OptiMN Leader. Huelman was shocked by this as well, “I didn’t know anything until the morning of the competition.” and although it was daunting, Huelman “decided not say anything, but they figured it out pretty quickly.” If they were nervous, the judges couldn’t tell, because as Coltman says, “One of the judges said watching our presentation was like watching a professional synchronized swimming team.”
The judges apparently weren’t the only ones that were impressed. Urban Homeworks, one of the corporate partners of OptiMN liked the designs so much, they plan on presenting the Impact Home to Green Home North for their next funding cycle. This sounds great to Cavan Wagg, 22, R&T and the systems team leader, “That would be so amazing! It would be so cool to see it in real life; we are really hoping that it ends up getting built.” Out of the four presenters, Coltman will be the sole returning student, and he plans to compete in the next Race to Zero, as well. All of the students feel more inspired than ever to pursue their careers, as Schneider added “I love the idea of changing our future by building great homes. I relish at the chance to gather any information I can that will help me design and build better homes that will last into the future.”
Learn more:
