Team California recalls D.C. experience

By Christopher Woodhouse

It's been a month since this year's Team California kicked off a mad dash to complete their entry in the nation's capital, called Refract House, after taking it apart and shipping it to Washington D.C. to compete in the 2009 Solar Decathlon in October.

Students, faculty, administration and supporters of the project convened in the Bannan Engineering complex Tuesday night to congratulate the team on another third-place victory.

"You represent the best of Santa Clara," said Santa Clara mayor and university alumna Patricia Mahan. "Our city is very proud of you."

After a presentation of the Santa Clara team members and brief remarks from university President Michael Engh, S.J., students spent most of the event catching up and reliving stories.

Most of their journey is unknown to the Santa Clara community.

"It was the greatest experience a lot of us are ever going to have, especially in college," said project manager and Santa Clara senior Allison Kopf.

Nearly 200 students from Santa Clara and the California College of the Arts combined to work over 65,000 hours during the last two years on the planning and construction of the 800 square-foot structure.

Members of the construction team typically put in up to 16 hours per day.

Kopf's work on the project, which included administrative, communications and fundraising duties, kept her out of most classes during the first five weeks of this fall quarter.

"It was the project first and school second," said the engineering physics major.

The completed home was unveiled in early September, but the team didn't have much of a break. Almost immediately, the construction site was packed up and the house was split into three different sections to be transported on flatbed trucks.

The house arrived in the nation's capitol in late September and was stored at a local Jesuit high school before the official competition began. Teams were allowed to begin setting up their entries on the National Mall just after midnight on Oct. 1.

"It was one of the most stressful nights of the entire project," said Kopf.

The team found that their house had suffered some water damage along its cross-country journey. Part of the structure's façade had to be completely replaced while the team raced to prepare the rest of the home for competition.

"There were countless Home Depot runs," said Electrical Lead Richard Navarro.

Senior Erica Feiger, who worked on the home's water team, and another teammate even took Washington D.C.'s subway to get plumbing supplies, which attracted some curious stares from commuters, said Feiger.

The team was given seven days to set up, but the job only took four days to complete.

"After construction was over, we had a big party in the house," said senior Mikell Warms. The home is equipped with a THX-certified sound system similar to movie theatres throughout the country.

The competition officially began Oct. 8 and ran for a little over a week. Twenty solar-powered homes from around the world were judged in ten separate categories. Team California placed in the top three in seven categories, grabbing first in both architecture and communication.

"We had so much pride in the house," Koph said. "We could talk to (anyone) for hours about a pebble we put in the pond."

Washington, D.C. received rain during most of the competition. According to Kopf, the weather didn't stop tourists from waiting up to two hours outside to take a tour of Refract House.

"Half the people that walked through the house said that they liked ours the best," said Warms.

Though leading overall through most of the competition, Team California wasn't optimistic about finishing the contest as one of the top three entries. A category measuring energy captured by the homes' solar panels was left to the last day and promised to push several houses ahead in points.

"We were demoralized at that point," recalled Warms. "We wanted to get third, but we figured we would get fourth."

The group still managed to pull off a few tricks including a surprise first-place in communications. Their finish just shy of first in engineering vaulted the team to the top four on the last day of the contest.

The students and faculty then learned what two years of hard labor had earned them. They won third place.

Kopf was floored. Literally.

"I actually did fall to the ground and Sean had to carry me to the stage," said Kopf, referring to Construction Lead Sean Irwin.

Said Warms, "We ran back to the house after all the ceremony was over and started playing California songs on the sound system."

Feiger had returned to Santa Clara before the competition was over, but had a viewing party at her house the night the awards were announced.

After two years, Team California returned home to lives as students without having to work on their Refract House.

"I still feel like I have a hangover," said Navarro.

Most of the students who worked on the project are now focusing on catching up in classes.

Santa Clara will not participate in the biannual Solar Decathlon in the next competition scheduled for 2011. According the Kopf, the university plans to spend the next four years gathering resources and pulling together different departments to enter the 2013 contest.

The Refract House will be on display as a model home across the street from the San Jose City Hall for several months beginning in January. The structure's permanent home is still being discussed, but possibilities include the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile.

Contact Christopher Woodhouse at cwoodhouse@scu.edu.