Solar Decathlon: 8 Sustainable Products in the Missouri S&T SILO Home

By Pat Curry

The University of Missouri S&T Solar House Design Team has participated in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon since the beginning in 2002, and has more Solar Decathlon experience than any other team. Building of what they’ve learned from past competitions, the house the team designed for this year’s entry is called the Smart Innovative Living Oasis, or SILO for short.

SILO is designed for a couple looking to move into a smaller, more efficient luxury home. Taking inspiration from the past to create the future, SILO encompasses the traditional features of a farmhouse design, including large openings with expansive views, wraparound porches, beamed ceilings, an open floor plan, and an abundance of natural wood. The team adapted these features into a modern style with natural colors and a simple, clean design.

Jennifer Nickel, the team’s director of design, noted several differences between this house and previous years’ entries. The last house, for example, made extensive use of recycled materials, including shipping containers, and “a lot more wood colors,” Nickel says. This year, the team used standard wood framing construction and a neutral color palette. Among the student-designed innovations in the house is a water wall that will be used to help greywater moving, a common problem in residential greywater systems.

Here are eight sustainable products Team Missouri S&T used in SILO.

This story is part of a series covering the U.S. Department of Energy’s biennial Solar Decathlon competition, which will occur in Denver, Colo., from Oct. 5-15. Leading up to the event, the PRODUCTS team is bringing you the coolest green building and design products in a number of the 11 competing universities’ homes.

1. GAF thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roofing panels / Photo courtesy of Team Missouri S&T

The roof looks like a standing-seam metal roof, but it’s actually TPO paired with some metal strips. “Trying to find a standing-seam curved roof is very costly,” Nickel says. “This way we got the look of a standing-seam room for a fraction of the cost.”
2. American Clay Forté clay plaster / Photo courtesy of Team Missouri S&T

Missouri S&T chose the interior finishing material because the eco-friendly clay plaster helps regulate humidity in the home’s bedrooms and remove pollutants from the air. Made from 70 percent recyclable material, it gives a natural finish to the walls.
3. Uponor radiant flooring / Photo courtesy of Uponor

The team used radiant flooring in the bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom for even distribution of heat rather than using forced air from a register in the floor. Nickel said research has shown that people whose feet are touching a warm, solid surface are comfortable even if the surrounding air is cooler.
4. NanaWall flexible glass wall curtain system / Photo courtesy of Team Missouri S&T

The role of these glass accordion walls is to bridge the gap between the interior and the exterior of the home. “It really opens the space to the outside,” Nickel said. In addition, the wavy piece of metal in the photo comes from a grain bin you’d see in an actual silo and is used to separate a breakfast nook from the deck area. “That roots from where our house was designed from,” Nickel said. “We’re inspired by these old farmhouses and how efficient they were.”
5. LG NeON 355W solar panels / Rendering courtesy of Team Missouri S&T

Team Missouri S&T is the first to use this 8-kW system. “We wanted to push the envelope and push innovation,” Nickel says. “Solar panels are getting more efficient every day, producing more power. The past year, the highest wattage you could get was 300. Increasing to 355 increases the power by hundreds of watts. LG said these are one of their most efficient panels.”
6. Enphase battery system / Photo courtesy of Enphase

Team Missouri S&T is using the Enphase 1.2-kWh AC battery, Enphase IQ 6+ microinverter, and Enphase combiner box with IQ Envoy. These first-in-the-market batteries are used for energy storage and to regulate how much energy goes to the grid and when.
7. WAC Lighting I Can't Believe It's Not Recessed surface-mounted LED can lights / Photo courtesy of WAC Lighting

Enery Star-rated and CEC Title 24-compliant, these surface-mounted lights solved a problem for the team: The pitch of the roof eliminated the ability to do any recessed lighting in the house. “You just need a junction box in the ceiling, it looks almost flush, and it still provides a great amount of light,” Nickel says.
8. NuvoH2O eco-friendly water softener / Photo courtesy of NuvoH2O

Typically, water softeners require the use of potassium or salt, but the NuvoH20 uses citric acid. “It’s safer for the environment than salt or potassium,” Nickel says. “It’s not recommended, but if a kid consumed [the citric acid], it’s not going to be detrimental to their health.”

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Solar Decathlon: 8 Sustainable Products in the Missouri S&T SILO Home

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