University of Oregon takes First Place and Grand Jury Prize at 2020 Solar Decathlon
Exterior model of the Little Dipper Elementary School design.
The University of Oregon’s Team Polaris started their journey this January with a ten-week Architecture Studio led by Professor Ihab Elzeyadi. With several U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge categories to choose from, the team embraced the idea of an energy efficient school near the border of the U.S. and Mexico. They chose an elementary school site in the border city of Tecate, which is a populated suburban community of Mexico and a quieter, rural community of the U.S. This location offered an ideal opportunity to incorporate the shared climate and residential and political needs into a net zero elementary school that would bring the two communities together.
Team Polaris and Professor Ihab Elzeyadi. Photo courtesy of University of Oregon/NREL.
Team members Katherine Marple, Danielle Valdez, Garrett Leaver, and David Deussen named their school Little Dipper Elementary and set out to break down concepts and challenges into “kid-sized” learning moments through the school’s architecture, construction, and students’ daily activities. Beyond the building, the project fostered climate and community stewardship practices for all who were part of the school. From interactive stations where the students understand the sun’s effect on their current classroom environment to planting native ground cover that limits human interaction, this school embraces resilience, energy efficiency, and community involvement.
The Solar Decathlon Design Challenge is a yearly collegiate competition that challenges student teams across the nation to design affordable, marketable, and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. This year brought students from 45 finalists’ teams representing 31 schools to showcase their best designs at a virtual Decathlon Design Week event April 17-19, 2020, where the teams competed for the top prizes. This is where team Polaris was awarded First Place in the Elementary School Division, which was then presented to a Grand Jury and ultimately won Grand Winner for the Commercial Division.
We spoke with Professor Elzeyadi and asked what he thinks the next steps will be for Team Polaris and the Little Dipper Elementary design. Elzeyadi replied, “The team shared mutual respect and brought diverse ideas and contributions to this project. I see the project being developed even further, making it more robust and versatile, and customizable to other climate zones. For now, we’re just going to enjoy the win for a couple days.”
Watch Team Polaris’ presentation here:
Little Dipper Elementary School- An Interactive Climate Exploratorium