Project
Student-run from its inception, the 2007 Cornell University Solar Decathlon team came together on a car ride back from Washington, D.C., as younger members of the 2005 team were excitedly talking about the future. As soon as they returned to Ithaca, exhausted, at 3 a.m., the first team members sent out an email calling for an initial meeting. Over 20 people showed up, and the team began writing a proposal to enter the competition. They successfully submitted the proposal, co-authored by 19 students, on December 2, 2005, the day it was due.
In January of 2006, the team had its first real meeting, and 90 people showed up!
Starting with fresh faces, we were full of ideas for the direction of the project. Most members of the previous team had graduated. The extreme turnover in students meant that we lost a lot of experience and contacts. We were also in a bad position with the university: our predecessors had expended capital past their means, both political and financial. In addition, our prize-winning 2005 house sat on the Agriculture (Ag) quad without a future.
The team forged ahead. An architecture studio was established to design the house, consisting of 12 students led by two professors. Meanwhile, an independent-study class in engineering was being run by the student leaders and used to give credit for participants. The landscape architecture students created their own independent-study course, and one of our faculty advisors taught a seminar course that brought together engineers, architects, and landscape architects.
