By Meghan Thompson
The Maryland Day visitors who ventured past the Xfinity Center, away from the chaos of main campus funnel cakes and fire trucks, toured an educational open house of a modernly designed sustainable home.
The open house was hosted by the American Institute of Architects Potomac Valley Chapter and the Potomac Valley Architecture Foundation to promote sustainable housing and educate Maryland Day visitors about the real benefits and feasibility of green living.
The event featured two houses, the University of Maryland’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon entries for 2007 and 2017. The 2007 entry, LEAFHouse, was the main event and featured a live band and solar oven-made hot chocolate. The 2017 entry was still being reconstructed after traveling back to campus from Denver, Colorado, where the competition was held.
The LEAFHouse was the University of Maryland’s entry into the 2007 Decathlon. The house won second place overall as well as People’s Choice award.
The house employs the sun’s energy to do most of the tasks conventional homes need electricity to fulfill. Solar panels create 100 percent of the energy needed to do things like turn on lights, use the oven or charge a phone. The house actually produces a surplus of energy, so much that the electric meter runs backward and the local power company can buy the energy back from the house.
The sun also heats all the hot water the house needs using water heating tubes on the roof. The tubes are insulated enough that the water can heat even in the coldest winter months. The hot water also runs through tubes under the sustainably sourced wood floorboards in order to heat the entire house. This tool is called a hydronic radiant floor heating system that can heat the house using only the water heated on the roof.
Additionally, all of the materials used to build the house are sustainably made and environmentally conscious. The siding of LEAFHouse has been replaced since 2007 with material made using carbon and ash from industrial chimneys mixed with concrete to create a maintenance free building material that doubles as a countertop. All of the lumber used was sustainably harvested by only cutting trees that were mature and leaving younger trees to replenish the forest.
One of the most experimental technologies used by the LEAFHouse is called a desiccant system that looks like a water feature in a hotel but actually removes water from the air and acts as a dehumidifier. The system does most of the dehumidifying work usually done by energy-hungry air conditioners.
President of the Potomac Valley Architecture Foundation Bo Green knew everything there was to know about the sustainability features of the house and just how environmentally friendly the structure is. He called himself a huge fan of Elon Musk and said being president means he has to volunteer the most but didn’t seem to mind considering his excitement about LEAFHouse. Green wants to create a first-of-its-kind sustainability park on the University of Maryland campus where scholars, students and scientists can learn and collaborate on the sustainable technology of the future.
“The mandate of this house is educational outreach. We want to learn from this house,” said Green. University of Maryland architecture and engineering students study LEAFHouse and its technology to better its sustainable features for implementation into everyday society.
Taylor Maher, Energy Efficiency Systems Analyst and LEAFHouse enthusiast said this year’s Maryland Day open house was more successful than last because it was actually featured on the Maryland Day map.
“Considering the size of the house, the living space was incredibly dynamic. I seriously want to live in this house,” said engineering major Elijah Olsen.