The vision of Santa Clara University’s Radiant House is a vision of a brighter future, a future of energy independence and environmental integrity. Our goal is to expand and enable the accessibility of solar energy, demonstrating that a sustainable lifestyle is something that can be achieved today.
What is the Radiant House Project?
Radiant House is a 980 square-foot, net-zero energy home designed and constructed by Santa Clara University students from January 2012 through August, 2013, to compete in the Solar Decathalon. Passive design and solar power generation was used to supply the home with power.
The Radiant House is divided into a public space consisting of a combined living and dining great room and kitchen plus a warmer, private space consisting of a master bed and bath.
The great room is the heart of the home. A concerted effort was made to ensure that this already adaptable and accommodating area is well suited to the needs of our target audience, a retired couple.
The great room utilizes free standing furniture to allow homeowners to repurpose the space to fit any occasion; if they are having a dinner party, the couple could extend the dining room table into the beautiful and open central module.
Contemporary, linear LED lighting and natural earth walls will contribute to a festive evening as guests enjoy time in the company of friends and family.
Vision
The vision of Santa Clara Univeristy’s Radiant House is a vision of a brighter future, a future of energy independence and environmental integrity. The project’s goal was to expand and enable the accessibility of solar energy, demonstrating that a sustainable lifestyle is not something that must wait until the future, but is something that can be achieved today.
As a team, Santa Clara combined the expertise of undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines to bring an original perspective not only to the quantitative building elements, but also the qualitative relations of space and utility.
Incorporating the three E’s of the team’s philosophy – Efficiency, Economy, and Elegance – SCU’s Radiant House team created a home that strikes a balance between comfort, aesthetics, and technological innovation. It is because of their commitment to the Jesuit values of competence, conscience, and compassion that they were able to build an extensive outreach program and conduct thorough ethical examinations of every team decision.
Together, these elements represent more than just a house; they define a vision for a greener and healthier tomorrow, available and amenable to everyone.
Nike Fuel Band
Curious about how much effort has gone into constructing Radiant House?
Nike generously donated Fuelbands to Santa Clara to monitor their efforts via the Fuelpoint system, calories burned, steps taken, and theoretical distance traveled. Smart watches like the Fuelband make it easy to monitor this for any size team.
The graph above is similar to the one that showed us the number of calories burned by the team out on the construction site this summer.