Rice’s ZEROW HOUSE comes home
Students’ Solar Decathlon house installed in Houston’s Third Ward

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

Homecoming isn’t until next weekend, but this week Rice welcomed home ZEROW HOUSE, the 800-square-foot dwelling designed and built by Rice University students for the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. The unconventional solar-powered house took eighth place overall in the competition held last month, and it placed second in both architecture and market viability. The Rice team was the only one from Texas to participate and had the lowest budget among the 20 competitors.

	JEFF FITLOW
	Rice welcomed home ZEROW HOUSE, the 800-square-foot dwelling designed and built by Rice University students for the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C.

Donated to Project Row Houses through a collaboration with Rice Building Workshop, ZEROW HOUSE is now at its permanent address at 2306 Stuart St. in Houston’s Third Ward. On Tuesday, a 250-ton crane lifted the house off a three-axle 18-wheeler and onto its foundation.

“It’s incredible how well it fits in here,” said Danny Samuels, the Harry K. Smith Professor in the Practice of Architecture. “The students really took into account this neighborhood and the homes already here. You can see that they made very thoughtful and careful decisions about the look and feel of this house.”

While the house seamlessly blends in, it stands out in one regard: It will produce as much energy as it consumes and possibly feed some energy back into the power grid. The team chose off-the-shelf, solar photovoltaic panels so that a typical homeowner would be able to purchase them. Through the panels and a solar hot-water system, the house is supplied with enough energy to run the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, appliances and lighting and still have hot water for the bathroom, kitchen and laundry needs. The team’s mini-split ductless HVAC system is 33 percent more efficient than traditional units and cools the house in two zones.

Solar Decathlon photo gallery
Get a behind-the-scenes look at Rice University at the 2009 Solar Decathlon Blogging from D.C.
Follow the Rice Solar Decathlon team by reading the group’s latest blog entries  Rice in Solar Decathlon’s top 3
ZEROW HOUSE takes second prize in architecture, market viability eventsArt makes ZEROW HOUSE a home
Rice professor and his son bring Houston to National Mal“We’re going to continue to monitor this house for about a year or so to check its energy efficiency,” said Roque Sanchez, the Rice undergraduate-turned-graduate student who led the project. “It will help us refine our designs for any future houses.”

Unlike other Solar Decathlon competitors, the Rice team chose inexpensive green technologies so that its design and concepts could be replicated in six energy-efficient, one- and two-bedroom homes on two 50-by-80-foot lots. Though other Solar Decathlon houses cost more than $700,000, the Rice house was built for $140,000. That cost would go to less than $100,000 without the materials needed for the 1,500-mile journey to and from D.C.

“We’d love to have more of these houses,” said Alain Lee, executive director of the Row House Community Development Corp. Pointing to a lot next door to ZEROW HOUSE, he added, “I think another one should go right there. It’s a great addition to our neighborhood.”

Lee said that Project Row Houses has not yet selected a resident for the house, but its design would make it an ideal space for an artist. The amount of natural light streaming in through a central source — the “light core” — could transform the house into a unique gallery space, he said.

ZEROW HOUSE’s next-door neighbor is the Extra Small (XS) House, designed and built by Rice Building Workshop. Both houses embrace the shotgun style of the surrounding homes but put a modern spin on the look.

“It’s a relief to have ZEROW HOUSE back in Houston,” said Sanchez. “I think about all the things that could have happened on the trip up to D.C. or the trip back. And though we still have more work to do to get the house ready for someone to move in, this is definitely a moment to celebrate. ZEROW HOUSE is home.”

The team plans to host an open house for the campus community this winter before they turn over the keys to Project Row Houses.

To see a virtual tour of ZEROW HOUSE from the Solar Decathlon, visit http://www.solardecathlon.org/virtual_tours/#app=f692&325d-selectedIndex=0&95a0-selectedIndex=3.