University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Affordable Re_Home is Prepped for Natural Disaster Recovery

In the last five years, the US has experienced a whirlwind or tornadoes, many of which left behind a devastating trail of destruction. So when students from the <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.gov/scores_teams_illinois.html">University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</a> set out to design their entry into the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon</a> architecture and design competition which concluded last week, they were thinking of all of the tornado victims. The central premise behind their Re_Home is a fast response time in order to get families in more permanent housing. As such, <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Re_Home</a> is sustainable, flexible and easily set up - assets they showed off during last week's assembly before the competition began.

This year a strong focus was placed on affordability and <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a> stepped up to the challenge keeping the costs for their <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon</a> low.

<a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a> worked hard to minimize the costs of their <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon</a> home through the use of affordable materials and estimates a cost of $250,000 per home.

<a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a> was designed as a two module home with a master bedroom, a guest/office/2nd bedroom, one bath, plus an open living, kitchen and dining area.

Prefabricated and assembled off site, <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a> is easily transported on one truck and then quickly off loaded and set into place.

Pre-assembly of <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a>'s 7.2 kW solar system means that as soon as the house arrives, it can start providing power, which is critical during emergency and recovery situations.

The solar panels on <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a> also act as a solar canopy to shade the south facades, which are paneled with a 60% rice husks, 22% common salt, and 18% mineral oil that can be personalized with different finishes.

Super insulation and high performance glazing on <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a> minimize losses, while a centrally located air-source heat pump with a forced air distribution system with energy recovery provides efficient heating and cooling.

<a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a> is organized around a private and public triangle to maximize on space.

Outside <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a>, an edible garden provides on-site food production and reclaimed wood and recycled materials finish out the interior.

<a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a>'s outdoor covered patio and garden perimeter.

Bright lighting features inside the kitchen of <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a>.

The floor plan of <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a>.

The rapid response system of <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.illinois.edu/" target="_blank">Team Illinois</a>' <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-decathlon">Solar Decathlon home</a>.