The SU+RE House [SUstainable + REsiliant]

Allison Outwater, a young engineer employed at Maser Consulting, is an EIT who interned for us last year before graduating Stevens Institute in May of 2015. As part of her senior project, she and a team of students from Stevens Institute, built a house. Not just any house—the SU+RE (Sustainable+Resiliant) House. The 1,000 SF structure uses 90% less energy than traditional homes, is fully solar powered, and will act as a resilient energy hub to assist neighboring homes during power outages. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy left a big impression on all of us here on the east coast—particularly in the Mid-Atlantic. The design team is maintaining that the structure is also hurricane resistant and aims to redefine the future of coastal housing. This is a big claim and they’re sticking to it!

To top it off, earlier this week they shipped the house in modular sections via tractor trailer from Hoboken, NJ to Irvine, CA as their entry for the 2015 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition being held October 15-18 at Orange County Great Park.  This competition challenges collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive.

According to Allison, her team is up against some of the biggest university’s in the country, some of which have teamed with students internationally including Italy and Germany. Twenty teams in all have been selected and, as of today, the field has already decreased to 14 with the likes of Stanford and Yale backing out. This is the third year Stevens Institute has entered the competition, each time learning from the last. They are determined. And they have a good chance of winning.

This stuff just makes me happy.

For more information visit their website The SU+RE House

Be sure to “LIKE” The SU+RE House on FACEBOOK! The more “LIKES” they get, the better chance they have of winning!