The SURE (SUstainable and REsilient) HOUSE is Stevens' entry into the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition and represents the schools' vision of a sustainable and resilient home for the areas at greatest risk during extreme weather. The student-built, net-zero, solar-powered home is currently being built in Hoboken, New Jersey and will soon be shipped to Irvine, California for entry into the competition.
PSEG's partnership with Stevens Institute of Technology is aligned with the company's corporate citizenship priorities which include collaborating with organizations that promote environmental stewardship and sustainability initiatives and improving learning and educational opportunities in areas of STEM. Funds from the PSEG Foundation grant are being used in part to fund the SURE HOUSE construction as well as entry into the Solar Decathlon.
"This hands-on project moves students from the classroom to part of a team working together to solve real-world problems," said Ellen Lambert, president of the PSEG Foundation. "We are proud to support the construction of the SURE HOUSE to help these students learn teamwork and skills they can carry with them into STEM careers."
"The SURE HOUSE is a prototype to demonstrate how the state-of-the-art in highly energy efficient solar-powered housing design can be embodied in an attractive dwelling engineered for both livability and sustainability. The SURE HOUSE goes further by also being designed to be resilient to the impact of extreme weather, especially those experienced in coastal communities such as in the recent Super Storm Sandy, which caused massive damage and destruction," said A.J. Elliott, a student working on the project.
"The SURE HOUSE is protected from water incursion and can be shuttered against wind damage through the use of fiber-composite materials that have been repurposed from the boat building industry," said John Nastasi, lead faculty for the Solar Decathlon project and director of Stevens' product-architecture & engineering program. "Student engineers also have incorporated a system that can generate power in a blackout so the home can function off the grid and even provide a charging station for the neighborhood."
After the Solar Decathlon, it is planned that the SURE HOUSE will be donated to Seaside Park, N.J. where it will serve as a public education facility addressing sustainable and resilient approaches to housing, especially in coastal communities and to the resources that support these communities.
