Our team at the National NSF EPScOR Conference was represented by one of our Solar Home team members Suncica Jasarovic senior in undergraduate architecture, and two other mechanical engineering students: Bernardo Del Campo, graduate student in mechanical engineering, and Chloe Dedic, graduate student in mechanical engineering.

As the integration of a solar desiccant system draws closer, the CBER team has agreed its time for a mechanical room redesign. Not only does this room provide a home for all the systems that support a comfortable environment inside the house, but the room iteslf also acts as a plenum space, where air is able to exchange in and out of the main building. Architects and engineers will work together to devise an easyily understood design for a functioning mechanical room that supports life in the Interlock House and can be viewed by visitors.

Extremely mobile and easily adjustable, these sensor trees have been designed to take accurate measurements at designated heights throughout the Interlock house. These devices will make it possible to accuire accurate readings different heights throughout the house. The wonderful thing about the design of these poles is that they are not restrained to one type of sensor; for our first test, we will be using thermistors with the poles to measure temperature, but afterwards the poles can be easily modified to use other relevent sensors, such as anemometers (detects wind speed).

Finally, talking about the weather is no longer small talk. This fall, the CBER (Center for Building Energy Research) team will be working toward understanding what it’s really like to live in a passive solar home that uses building design for climate control instead of mechanical means (such as air conditioning).

So, we are off to a new academic year with record high temperatures! This semester will bring new research challenges to our building science team: We will construct our highly sensitive air flow monitoring cart!