03/07/2009Newsletter Team SPAIN - SIMA Special Edition - Number 4
Welcome to our fourth edition of the TeamSPAIN Newsletter! The end of May and beginning of June were busy times for us. At Madrid’s Real Estate Fair (SIMA) we were able to exhibit our finished House for the first time. This exposition was a huge success and it filled us with great satisfaction because it gave the Black&White project international exposure. At the end of June, we also exhibited the House at Solar Spain (España Solar - Rivas Vaciamadrid), and now that we’ve got our engines running, we’re gearing up for Washington. In this edition of the Newsletter, you can read about all these events and more.
In this edition (click to go to the article)…
- Remarkable Showing of The Black&White House at SIMA
- Sponsors of THE B&W HOUSE: a critical factor for success.
- VIDEO: Setting up the B&W House at SIMA
- Dinner Party Menu
- Virtual visit to The Black&White House
- The B&W House Participates In Rivas’s Sustainability Week
REMARKABLE SHOWING OF THE BLACK&WHITE AT SIMA
Our House is now ready for display, and was unveiled at the Salón Inmobiliario (Real Estate Exhibition) of Madrid between the 26th and the 29th of May.
At SIMA, we were graced by the presence of the Minister of Housing, Beatriz Corredor and by the President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, in addition to the numerous other visitors of the Fair.
The press brought further attention to our House by writing an article titled “SIMA exhibits the prototype of a solar house, designed by students of the UPM for the Solar Decathlon competition.” In the article, Minister Corredor shared the sentiments of our Director, Josep M. Adell: “These are houses of the present, not of the future; we want to raise public awareness and show that the building of energy efficient housing is something that is economically feasible.”
With this coverage and showing, we have achieved our objective of presenting the project as accessible and realistic to a wide audience. We were pleased to see that visitors of all ages expressed interest in obtaining a solar house like ours, and that they were further intrigued having passed through the House, where they were could take a closer look at the furnishings, have a seat, and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the luminous interior.
Thank you once again to all who have expressed an interest in our project and for helping us with your strong showing at SIMA.
Sponsors of THE B&W HOUSE: a critical factor for success.
The “B&W House” was one of the biggest attractions at this past month’s Real Estate Fair in Madrid. Our sponsors played a decisive role in our success in the run-up to the U.S. Department of Energy’s competition. Visitors to the Fair were interested in learning about the collaborating businesses, and many asked for information about their products. We were happy to oblige with leaflets and informative brochures that were always at the ready.
Once again, the Minister of Housing offered us significant assistance throughout our preparations. Minister Beatriz Corredor was present at IFEMA (Madrid’s Trade Fair Institution) and was with the members of TeamSPAIN throughout the set-up process and up until the beginning of the Fair. The following day, she inaugurated Madrid’s Real Estate Fair with Esperanza Aguirre. The Town Hall of Madrid also exhibited enormous enthusiasm for sponsoring this project through the EMVS (Madrid Municipal Housing and Land Company).
Without a doubt, The ABB Group also did an excellent job in setting up the automatization systems for our solar roof. Their technicians were always at the ready and succeeded in ensuring the continuous approval and amazement of the public. Not only did Kömmerling help us stand out from the crowd thanks to their carpentry skills, but they ensured that our participation at the Fair would not go unnoticed, thanks to the interest from the press and the interviews with specialized news outlets.
Perhaps one of the more attractive features of our display were the videos we showed, not only of our House, but also of our sponsors, which were projected on our Philips Aurea television, whose vivid illumination caught the attention of all who passed by. Mitsubishi Electric also distinguished itself by providing us with help from their technicians. Their marketing department also came to our House to film a report and take photographs of us throughout the event. As for the interior design of the House, the public showered praises on the Corian surfaces, with the maps of Madrid and Washington posted on the walls. We are very proud to have such a unique wall treatment, and are excited to have it further highlighted once we finish the lighting installations.
The House was further decorated by the elegant touches of Silestone by Cosentino, whose contrast of the colours black and orange was executed using Velcro systems, assembled by Sanro. We mounted our sliding doors and the mirrored and glass Vitro details on Klein rails, which allowed the House to appear large and luminous. For the bathroom, we relied on Jacob Delafon, who provided us with all the necessary design elements in order to create a sophisticated looking space.
Apart from these elements, the walls and photovoltaic panels give the House an appropriate amount of insulation as well as adequate production of electricity, none of which would be possible without the support of Thermochip and Sunpower, respectively. Furthermore, we’ve been able to conserve more thermal energy using Dupont’s phase change gels. Due to the state of construction of the House, the installations were not yet incorporated, but we have now reached that moment and would like to give our thanks to IBE, Acustyterm, Carrier, Intemper, John Guest, Junkers, Koolair, Lapesa and Wilo for all their support.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the fantastic work of Montenegro in the construction of their trucks, Murillo Muriel for structure and Tecnove for the actual construction. We’ve also been helped enormously by ICEX, which not only developed our Second Life prototype, but is also supporting us by broadcasting our project on their online portals. “It’s Fairs” has been helping us with all the transportation logistics, ensuring that everything runs smoothly.
Finally, we’d like to bring attention to our Team’s newest sponsors: SinCeO2, an energy consultancy firm that is about to ensure that our House, “The Black and White House,” receives the certification of an A rating; and Fingerplus which is organising the I Forum on Sustainability on 29th October this year in Madrid.
Congratulations, and once again: Thank You!
Irene Garrido
Architect Decathlete
Click for the News section of our Website
VIDEO: Setting up the B&W House at SIMA
In this video, you can see how we set up the B&W House for the SIMA event, the visits of the Minister of Housing and the President of the Community of Madrid, clips from interviews by various television media outlets, and more. We hope you like it, enjoy it, and send it to your friends and associates!
You are cordially invited to dine with two Decathletes from our team on the 9th and 12th of October, and to participate in the Home Entertainment portion of the Solar Decathlon 2009 competition. TeamSPAIN will be serving a very special, “finger-licking good” dinner in the Black&White House. From day one, we have wanted to organize something unique and surprising for this particular evening. This year, we are honoured to have chef José Andrés as our official patron and culinary advisor working with TeamSPAIN.
José is a world-renowned chef who is known as the “unofficial Spanish ambassador” to the United States. His business, the THINKfoodGROUP, operates some of the most popular restaurants in Washington, D.C.; the Jaleo restaurant was the first to introduce “tapas”-style dining to the U.S. José Andrés also supervises the specialties at Café Atlántico, which serves Latin American inspired cuisine, Zaytinya, which serves a fusion of Greek and Turkish food, Oyamel, serving traditional Mexican foods, and the minibar by josé andrés, which serves the chef’s specialties in an intimate setting.
Here in Spain, he is known as the host of the TVE program Let’s Cook. In the U.S., he is the host and producer of José Made in Spain, a 26-episode PBS television series that focuses on the food and culture of Spain. Throughout his expansive career, he has received numerous awards and has appeared in various media outlets.
What’s more, we’ve got the invaluable support of Rubén García, José Andrés’ right-hand man. Rubén provides menu suggestions, quality control, and works with promotions and events.
The menu that José has created for us will combine traditional Spanish culinary art with the innovation of the nouvelle cuisine. It will hint at typical American cuisine and also the unique tastes of chef Ferrán Adriá, who was José’s mentor. We are certain that the food will please even the most discerning of palates, and that you will find the evening most enjoyable. We’ve designed this special menu for you, our future dinner party guests, so that you may get a sneak peek at the evening’s offerings and learn about the nutritional information and ingredients of the dishes you will soon enjoy.
And what of the recipes? For now, we’re keeping those a secret.
Luis Alberto Burred
Decathlete Architect
Click for the Sponsors section of our Website
Virtual visit to The Black&White House
If, for whatever reason, you were unable to visit our exhibition at SIMA… If you were so busy with work to notice the buzz in the news… If you somehow still don’t know what the Black&White House looks like on the inside and out, then we have something new for you:
http://www.solardecathlon.upm.es/virtualvisit/
Follow this link to check out the House as it was exhibited at SIMA, and familiarize yourselves with the electric power station. Explore the House at your leisure, using the controls at the bottom of the page. Click on the arrows to navigate your own way through the 3D House, or check out some of the videos that accompany the virtual visit.
The B&W House Participates In Rivas’s Sustainability Week
The Rivas Ecópolis is a project pioneered in Spain as a way to engage a city in action, working together against climate change.
In order to raise awareness about the issue, they have organized a Sustainability Week event, held between the 24th and the 28th of June. They planned fun educational and cultural activities to present sustainability from a variety of perspectives. Some of the more interesting topics that covered during the week included: renewable energy, energy savings and efficiency, sustainable transport, eco-friendly housing alterations, bioclimatic architecture, and environmental education. All these topics are directly related to the Solar Decathlon.
Throughout this event, we promoted “The B&W House,” The Polytechnic University of Madrid’s solar house, which will represent Spain in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2009 competition. Visitors were able to learn about the advantages that come from the installation of the Electrolinera system, a structure that feature the same system that connects our moveable, auto-orientating roof to the House. For the exhibit, we showed how the Electrolinera system can be used to power electric vehicles; in effect, we built a solar petrol statio located at the Telegraph Hill Sports Center’s parking lot (Polideportivo Cerro del Telégrafo).
Tours and information about “The B&W House” were provided by those team members who will be competing in Washington D.C. in October and who are putting the finishing touches on the house. Without a doubt, this event offered a unique opportunity to learn about the technical and financial details of making this prototype of a bioclimatic solar house, one that will be viable in the near future, and to learn about our patrons and their collaboration with us on the project.
Irene Garrido
Architect Decathlete
Click for the News section of our Website
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Velcro, Montenegro Iberica, IE University, Junkers, Carrier, Allwall Solar, Koolair, Acustyterm, Sanro, Siliken, El Corte Inglés, Soler&Palau, Hanseata, Ikea, Affirma Solar