SURE HOUSE » communications

Welcome to the SURE HOUSE: Students Respond to Climate Change

shadmin — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 08:00:25 +0000

SURE about what?
We’ve all gotten the memo: climate change is real and it’s happening. That means we have to adapt to it while working to fix it. Our contribution to the cause is the SURE HOUSE, a SUstainable and REsilient prototype representing a new direction in coastal housing.

SUstainable SURE
To us, sustainability basically means doing something in such a way that it can be repeated. Right now our human machine isn’t sustainable fundamentally due to carbon emissions. There are lots of other interesting challenges, but carbon reduction is the front line. Since the source is burning fossil fuels to produce energy, our approach to sustainability is aggressive energy efficiency to reduce loads and innovative renewable energy systems to meet demands. The SURE House is designed to use only 10% of the energy a comparable code-built house consumes and to produce all of that energy itself on site. No carbon offsets or “green-power” programs. This is straight up energy production for direct use.

REsilient SURE
Resilience to us is both about creating a system that absorbs and adapts to change. The SURE HOUSE is designed to absorb extreme weather through its primarily passive approach to comfort. Insulation, air tightness, and high performance windows are integrated with the mechanical system to create a building that absorbs climate extremes without huge increases in energy use. At the same time, the SURE HOUSE adapts to storms through movable parts that morph from shades to shutters and a solar electric (PV) generation system that, even though grid tied, continues producing power when the grid is down. This allows the house to become a community power hub in the event that the municipal infrastructure fails.

Comfort for SURE?
Hey, we’re talking about the beach here, so we made sure that all of this geeky tech comes in a package designed for comfort. Luckily, the open floor plan and indoor/outdoor rooms of the quintessential 60’s style modern beach house already work with the local climate to create comfort efficiently. We think our version just enhances the original. Judge for yourself.

Why SURE?
The SURE HOUSE is Stevens Institute of Technology’s entry in the 2015 Solar Decathlon. The Solar Decathlon is a competition put on by the US Department of Energy every 2 years in which 20 student teams from universities around the world are chosen to design, build, transport, and operate an innovative, marketable, affordable, solar-powered house. There are 10 contests, both juried and measured, that take place while all the houses are on display and being toured by the public. If that sounds ridiculously hard, it is. Luckily, this is SIT’s third consecutive Solar Decathlon entry, so we know what we’re getting into. We are really passionate about this project and want to share it with you. Over the next 10 months, we’ll chronicle our progress here at SURE HOUSEKEEPING and hope you’ll check back often to see what’s up.

We’re SURE, are you?

View this blog on PopSci.com here.

MyFoxNY: Home to withstand natural disasters

shadmin — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 13:40:45 +0000

For the two year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy Fox News NY featured SURE HOUSE on Good Day Street Talk hosted by Antwan Lewis. See project director John Nastasi and graduate student AJ Elliott discuss the project as it relates to the shore, Hoboken and Stevens Institute of Technology.

Photo: Doug, via Flickr



Times of San Diego: CSUSM Opening Center for Growing Numbers of Veterans
shadmin — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:00:06 +0000
For the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon students at Stevens Institute of Technology built the Ecohabit home. The building is a 1,000-square-foot energy efficient and fully solar powered home. 
Following the competition the home was donated to Cal State San Marcos. On September 23rd 2014 the building was opened as a veterans center for the growing number of student veterans in the California state university system.
Read the full article from Times of San Diego here.
Photo: Rennett Stowe, via Flickr





My9NJ: NJ Students Develop Flood Proof Home To Combat Storm Damage
shadmin — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 11:09:44 +0000
See the coverage by Meg Baker and her colleagues at My9NJ from the public debut of SURE HOUSE on August 27th 2014. 
The discussion surrounds what we are doing here at Stevens Institute to help respond to the issues of rebuilding on the shore post-Hurricane Sandy. Additionally the news team talks about more specific problems including the costs associated with elevating homes and insurance issues for homeowners in these coastal communities.
View the full content from My9NJ here.
Photo: AJ Elliott, via Flickr





Public Gets First Look at Stevens’ Entry House in Solar Decathlon 2015
shadmin — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 12:00:15 +0000
Following our summer debut of SURE HOUSE on August 27th 2014 Stevens Institute’s university news featured our work.
The article discusses how SURE HOUSE is Stevens response to Hurricane Sandy. Notable mentions from the August event include Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Stevens engineer dean Dr. Sheppard and lead faculty for the project John Nastasi as well some student interviews.
Read the full article from Stevens Institute of Technology here.
Photo: AJ Elliott, via Flickr





NJTV News: Stevens Tech Students Unveil Hurricane Resistant Shore Home Designs
shadmin — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:20:52 +0000
View our news spot on NJTV News. 
They give a quick description of our student driven project that serves as a solar home for the U.S. Department of Energy 2015 Solar Decathlon competition as well as a storm resilient shore home in response Hurricane Sandy.
Photo: Chris Gent, via Flickr





NJ.com: Stevens Tech students debut hurricane resistant, solar powered shore home design
shadmin — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 07:30:41 +0000
NJ.com writes about our student teams work to develop a hurricane resistant, solar powered shore home.
During our summer debut of SURE HOUSE some of the student designed innovations were featured. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer paid a visit and congratulated the Stevens team. Student interviews also mention some of the design drivers of SURE HOUSE and how we intend to make the home fit into the shore community both technologically and aesthetically.  
Read the full article from NJ.com here.
Photo: Anthony Quintano, via Flickr





CBS2 News: Stevens Institute Team Unveils Plans for Storm Resistant “SURE HOUSE”
shadmin — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 12:00:38 +0000
Watch CBS2 News in New York give coverage on SURE HOUSE. 
The media highlight introduces the student designed and built house for the Solar Decathlon competition and ultimately the New Jersey shore.
Photo: Alexander Baxevanis, via Flickr





Setup for SURE HOUSE Summer Debut
shadmin — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:00:49 +0000
See the timelapse as our Stevens team sets up for the summer debut of SURE HOUSE.
Students encompassing all the departments here at Stevens Institute all featured their summer design work on exhibition boards.
The Steven’s, Hoboken and Jersey shore communities were all invited to witness our work first hand.
Photo: AJ Elliott, via Flickr