The Office

TeamSPAIN is back in Madrid! We are very happy to be back in town, although some of us are still a little jet-lagged. We already miss working at The National Mall, bonding with the other teams, and experiencing the excitement of the competition.

First of all, we would like to congratulate Team Germany, the winner of the Solar Decathlon competition. Right from the start, even during assembly, we knew that these guys were a team to watch. They exhibited great discipline, focus, knowledge, and brilliant organization, and step by step, they conquered the Solar Village.

We also want to congratulate the rest of the teams for their great designs and wonderful spirit. It's a shame we didn't have the opportunity to get to know each other better, but the honor of being a Decathlete is something that we all shared, and we've brought that feeling of pride back home with us.

The DOE and the rest of the organizers did a fantastic job coordinating the competition and making all the events run like clockwork. We are very grateful to them for their effort and the passion that went into preparing and running this competition.

We've returned home happy with our results. The public loved the House and were amazed by our innovations. We had thousands of visitors pass through, and at one point peaked with 3,500 visits in one five-hour period! We had a lot of media outlets visit the site, and calling to request photos and interviews. The Times and The Washington Post featured articles with the houses competing in the Solar Decathlon, and with pictures of The Black&White House.

Our Facebook fan site has been updated with pictures from the competition. You can take a look at them here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-BW-House-TeamSPAIN/96315127907

At the moment, we are in the process of wrapping everything up, thanking our sponsors, and discussing our next steps. We plan to show the House at fairs, and are working to make our technological patents and innovations available to consumers, so feel free to get in touch with the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid if you are interested in getting involved with these endeavors.

We hope you had a great time following TeamSPAIN and The Black&White House as we prepared and competed in the Solar Decathlon 2009. We are very grateful for all your support!

TeamSPAIN

A house in the middle of the street

We have had an intense couple of days. The awards for Market Viability, Architecture, and Communication have been made public, and teams have been rewarded for their efforts, dedication, and ability to make their ideas a reality.

TeamSPAIN did not have the honor of being in the top three for these awards, but it has been immensely satisfying talking to the judges and demonstrating the effort we've made, and we've felt a great sense of completion after taking the time to explain the concepts behind The Black&White House.

We are also having fun during the house tours. Visitors have fallen in love with our project and our innovations. We've noticed a sense of awe from the majority of the public when we show them our rotating roof, the moving walls, and our transportation system. The response from the public has given us great satisfaction, and we hope to see a similar response from Decathletes from other teams during the team tours.

TeamSPAIN

Media, media, media...

It is such a pleasure for us to be seen on Spanish TV.

http://www.rtve.es/mediateca/videos/20091009/las-energias-renovables-siguen-ganando-terreno/602141.shtml

But we are also receiving media attention from blogs, newspapers, foreign TV broadcasters and magazines, so it is difficult to keep track of it all. It is a great reward to see such a response from our communication efforts, and while our main focus is on the competition, it is very exciting to see that our work has had an impact outside of The National Mall.

Today we will be hosting a second dinner party, and we hope to delight our neighbors with some delicious Spanish food. A quick note to those who are suspicious about our local cuisine: Spanish food is not spicy, Mexican food is ;-)

Wishing you another great competition day...

TeamSPAIN

Defining Moment - Jury Tours

Saturday was a great day for our team. For those unfamiliar with the competition, we get scored and those points go toward our final placement. Some of those points come from subjective contests in which a board of juries evaluates our efforts and ideas in architecture, communication, and the market viability of the project.

During Saturday morning, we were visited by three groups of judges who first listened to our presentation for twenty minutes, and then took another ten minutes to discuss their impressions amongst themselves. During the next few days we will be hearing what those impressions were and will be receiving a score from them. We cannot wait to see what they thought of of our concept and our House.

After the jury visits, we opened the House to the public and received 1403 visitors. We finished the day at 10pm, when we switched off the lights and left The National Mall for the evening. Today, Sunday, we will be receiving our neighbors for a movie night. It should be a lot of fun.


TeamSPAIN

...check out the scores at www.solardecathlon.org

Dinner Party

Today, the luckiest of the Decathletes in Washington are going to enjoy a special dinner party with a menu prepared by Chef José Andrés (of the ThinkFoodGroup). Tomorrow, we'll get to read their reviews.

Competition Day 1 - Inauguration Day

Hello Everybody,

As some of our Professors like to say, it is one thing to build a Ferrari, and it is quite another to drive one. Up until this moment, we've been in building mode, but now it's racing time. What we need is to shift gears, and events like the inauguration ceremony and the visit from our main sponsor, the Spanish Minister of Housing, make that transition easier.

Our first day has been filled with some truly unforgettable moments. We opened The Black&White House to the public, and we have been visited by the DOE Solar Decathlon master and commander, Richard King. We also had a visit from our friend and sponsor Jose Andrés, head of ThinkFoodGroup, who will be preparing our dinner menu for the competition. Also, we were quite surprised to find UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon taking a walk through the interior living space.

On the first day we had 1116 visitors, and the feedback we received so far has been very positive. We are eager to see what happens on Day Two! Also, we are going to keep updating in real time from The Mall using Twitter, so look us up and follow our Tweets!

http://twitter.com/teamspain

TeamSPAIN

Ready, steady, go!

Well, the big day has finally arrived!

Today is October 7th, and we are cleaning up and preparing to start the competition. It has been a tough week for us, and while we've loved working at The National Mall, our fun has been mixed with long hours, little sleep, and lots of sweat, but now the House is looking good and we are prepared to compete.

Today we will have a reception for our main sponsor, the Spanish Minister of Housing, Beatriz Corredor. Also our sculptor, Juan Bordes, has come for a visit to see how his work looks juxtaposed next to The B&W House. Faculty and staff from the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and from their research departments have also come to wish us well, and we couldn't be more thrilled. The sense of anticipation fills the air not only at The National Mall, but everywhere we go. We're anxious to start competing, but we're ready!

TeamSPAIN

TeamSPAIN Presents its PV Patents used for “The B&W House” in Germany

The 24th European Photovoltaic Conference was held this past week in Hamburg, Germany. This Conference is the most international event focused on photovoltaic innovations, and TeamSPAIN was there to promote “The B&W House” project for the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2009. This event provided our Decathletes with an extraordinary opportunity to learn and exchange information on the latest developments in science and industry. In addition, we were proud to showcase the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid's two patents: The New PV Mobile Modules System and the New PV Self-Orientating Solar Roof Based on a Balanced Movement.

Participants included nearly 950 companies, more than 4,200 conference delegates, and approximately 40,000 visitors from more than 100 countries.

99 brown boxes by TeamSPAIN feat: Nena

Hi folks! 99 + 1 boxes are on their way to Washington, and it's been hard work all the way, we can assure you!

But the boxes are finally ready and taped up, so... the DC airport is going to be flooded with brown boxes very soon!

Be careful with Box 32, please. It is very, very fragile :)

NAHB Meets The B&W House

Today we had a very special visit in Bowie. The NAHB Research Center team paid us a visit, and it was wonderful to see how pleased they were both with the tour and with the House. We began by giving them a presentation of the project and our competition strategy from a theoretical viewpoint, showing our videos, our setup for the Mall, and finally convincing them that ours is the best project competing.


After theory came practice, and once they were able to see the rooftop movement with their own eyes, they were left quite impressed. Following the spectacular viewing of the exterior of the House, we took them inside to show them the interior and the installations, all the while answering their questions, and to give them a short demonstration of the home automation systems that run the House.



The result of this encounter was a general feeling of satisfaction, both among the members of our team and among the NAHB team members, whose enthusiasm rubbed off on us and gave us an extra push as we begin the final sprint to the competition. They were lucky to be the first to get a full tour of the House that's going to win the next Solar Decathlon competition!

Spot the differences

There has been a problem printing some of our brochures... can you spot the differences!

Decathletes all over the world

TeamSPAIN has been working hard preparing for the competition. At this very moment, there is a group of Decathletes in Bowie (USA), another in Hamburg (Germany), and a third in Madrid, all working hard to arrive at the Washington Mall in perfect shape, ready to score maximum points in every of the ten competition events.


The Project Manager, Josep Adell, is already in Bowie, along with the Construction Chief Edgar Lombana, and Decathletes Sara Gil and Victor Marcos Morell, who are being assisted by Luis Lozano and Hugo Bueno. This team has assembled the House, and is running through a final set of tests and simulations of the various bioclimatic systems of The Black&White House.


Irene Garrido and Javier Mata are currently in Hamburg, presenting our solar capture technologies at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, reinforcing our efforts to spread the word about the project and to commercialize our patents.



In Madrid, the rest of the team is engaged in preparing for the contest and putting together collateral materials, which will be exhibited in the Mall and distributed to visitors of The Black&White House.


We encourage you all to follow our progress through the website, this blog, and our Facebook group. We need all the help and encouragement we can get from you guys. We send our greetings, and in just a few short days we'll be standing at the starting line, waiting for the starter gun to mark the beginning of the Solar Decathlon 2009.


TeamSPAIN

Contest Preparation...

Hello Everyone!

Repetition is the mother of all learning and the father of a few headaches here and there, but here at TeamSPAIN we keep on repeating the drill, preparing ourselves for the contests.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the dynamics of the competition, our House has to undergo ten different tests. Some of them are objective and involve energy metering, temperature, humidity, and basically anything that can be measured and compared in order to receive a particular score. The other contests are more subjective, and require not only our strategy, but our ability to present the House to the jury. These five subjective tests are:

- Architecture
- Market Viability
- Engineering
- Lighting Design
- Communications

We are going through rounds of role-playing, in which the architects, engineers, and the rest of the students, rehearse for their explanation of the House in front of the jury. Here you can see us working towards creating an excellent presentation, putting our brains together and giving the best of ourselves!!

There's only 20 days left!!

TeamSPAIN

New Website Update

Hello Everyone!

Have you noticed anything different at www.solardecathlon.es? Well, to begin with, we are giving you the first heads up. Every time you visit the website, you will be welcomed with a video of our recent activities. You will also be able to check out the new sections we've added, which are being updated daily with new information and pictures.

Once the competition begins, you will be able to follow the schedule of our activities in the calendar section, which will also be updated daily along with this blog. Things are happening fast, so stay tuned and and follow us as we approach the big day!

www.solardecathlon.es

TeamSPAIN

New Solar Cell Design Serves Up Seconds -- Service 2009 (911): 1 -- ScienceNOW

New Solar Cell Design Serves Up Seconds -- Service 2009 (911): 1 -- ScienceNOW

Posted using ShareThis

Bowie, Sweet Bowie

Hello Everyone!

TeamSPAIN is currently split into two. Some of us are still in Madrid, while the rest are in Bowie, on the other side of the Atlantic, preparing The Black&White House for its final round of tests. We will keep you updated along the way, but for starters, here are some pictures of the prototype getting acquainted with American trucks.

Following the Sun to Bowie

Dear friends,

Good news! The B&W House has hit the shores of Baltimore and is in pristine condition. The first module is already in Bowie, where the House will be tested again. Over the next few days, we will be transporting the other two modules, and have them for assembly.

And the clock keeps ticking away...

TeamSPAIN

The first members of TeamSPAIN have departed for Washington

Hello Dear Readers!

The B&W House is quickly approaching the American shore, and our first teammates have flown off to Washington. They must reach the US before the House in order to accept it and pass through customs.

A second cohort is packing their bags, and a new batch of Decathletes should also be arriving soon. They need to get to the house and start testing all the systems to check whether the House is doing okay after 22 days at sea!

Good luck fellas!

Gone baby, GONE!

The B&W House is now crossing the Atlantic Ocean and headed towards Baltimore! In the meantime, we are preparing for the contests and other surprises that await us during the Solar Decathlon Competition!!!! Check out the photo of some of our decathletes as they enjoy the sunset and emulate “Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper” (1932).

See you soon!

Goodbye Madrid!!!!!

The Decathletes and the B&W House are ready to win the Solar Decathlon 2009!!!


TeamSPAIN bids farewell to Madrid from the Alcalá Gate!


GOODBYE!!

Interview with Javier Serra

We hope you enjoy this interview with Javier Serra. The interview is in Spanish, but we've provided English subtitles for you.

TeamSPAIN in the news (again)

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was a great, great, GREAT day.

TeamSPAIN made a visit to its most prominent sponsor: The Spanish Ministry of Housing. We also spent a few minutes in the company of the Minister, Beatriz Corredor, who took interest in our backgrounds and future careers. The Vicechancellor of our University was also present. We parked our three trailers in front of the Ministry, at one of the main streets of Madrid, and were able to catch the attention of many passersby.



After our visit, we hopped on the trailers and went for a tour of Madrid, showing off our house and taking pictures of the Team as a farewell to the city that has seen this project grow to great heights.



The Black&House will be departing soon, and we are proud to say that we bid it farewell with style :-)

TeamSPAIN

Installations countdown!

Yesterday was an exciting day! We learned how to mount the white tarp that goes under our PV (photovoltaic) roof structure. The tarp must be folded very precisely, so learning how to dismantle the tarp was also essential.The result is spectacular!

Apart from that, we have been working on the façades of the house. The thermal panels were assembled separately and adhered to the walls. Other than that, the PV glass-glass modules were put together and framed. Little by little, we´re getting there. Important progress has been made on the electrical installation and plumbing systems, as well. The tanks are being connected, so now our technical room has a really neat look! It´s terribly hot here in Spain, but we are working as hard as ever. The results are great, as you can see from the pictures below!

Today: Interview with Luis Maldonado

Hello! Today we've interviewed our center's director: Professor Luis Maldonado. For those who are so inclined, we've included the interview below.

Unfortunately, the interview is in Spanish and we couldn't post it in English, but this seems as good an opportunity as any to learn our beautiful language :)

Packing up!

Have you ever packed an entire house, and all the equipment necessary for it as it prepares to embark on a two month journey across the Atlantic? And have had to also include the the equipment for the more than 20 decathletes who will be competing??? It's not that easy!!!

This has been a difficult task not only for the physical effort it requires, but also for the psychological effort, as we also had to inventory absolute everything... twice!!! Once in Spanish (for us and our customs) and a second time in English (for the US customs).

Trip to Tecnove

Hello dear blog readers! We have just returned from our trip to Tecnove. During this trip, we've packed every single item that needs to be shipped to Baltimore.

While we were at Tecnove, we also tested the PV (photovoltaic) panels. In order to do so, we had to connect all the panels that form the solar roof. Take a look below, and you'll see the final product of all our hard work: here's a photograph of our self orientated roof top!

I hope you all enjoy this amazing photo: it's taken a lot of hard work to bring you this product!

In a place called La Mancha…

This photo portrays the exquisitely beautiful flat and arid landscape of the Spanish region in the center of our country. This is where “The B&W House” is being built, in a town called Herencia, about 130 km from Madrid. The construction company, Tecnove (see photo below), has been helping us immensely in putting the house together. Next week, the house will be finished, and all the technical and architectonical devices will be in their places. During this past month, the architects and engineers have been very busy, and we've been trying just as hard to follow the building process. There is no doubt that every visit we have made to Tecnove has educational, and we have learned practical tips and tricks along the way. In sum, it has been an enriching experience!

3D Modeling at 300%

As you can see from these pictures, the creation of our wonderful 3D renders requires a lot of effort and even more resources. Here we can see Nacho working with three computers simultaneously on 3D Studio, thanks to the V-Ray plugin and Rhino3D!!

Cibeles Runway at the TeamSPAIN Studio!

Here at TeamSPAIN, we have become true fashionistas! We are in the middle of choosing our official uniform for the Solar Decathlon 2009 Competition! We are deciding on the cut, the fabric, the color and design.

So far, we have decided that we will be wearing two kinds of outfits: a suit and a more casual uniform that we will be wearing while assembling the house and doing hard labor during the Competition! The suits are for when we freshen up and show off our fantastic project!

Take a look at some of our Decathletes trying on our snazzy new suits!

Guess Where We are From?!

Our flag for the competition has just arrived! Now everyone at the Mall will know where we are from!

TeamSPAIN has arrived, and it's here to stay!

PS: In the picture, you have two of our Decathletes holding up the flag... Notice that the Decathlete on the right is Gabriella... from Potenza, Italy... but she is totally feeling the Spanish Spirit and is waving our flag with pride!!! (she better be, because otherwise...)

TeamSPAIN

Tubes & Cables

It is really magnificent to see how the elements of water and electricity, although different in nature, come together to form the installations essential for the everyday needs of a house.
The B&W's installations are not so different from those of other houses, except for the fact that they are massively more complex.
Electric wiring fits better, but results in a chaotic frame in the kitchen. Plumbing installations require big water tanks and careful positioning, and no matter how much we obsess over the details and play tetris with the tanks, the whole system still takes up an entire room by itself.

But we've got our creativity hats on and are continuously coming up with new solutions to space management.

TeamSPAIN

Shopping for "The B&W House"

We are preparing our house with all the furnishings that a cosy home needs. Paula, Irene, and our personal shopper Rául, popped into an Ikea store. They spent the whole afternoon there and were able to get most of the items from our list.

TeamSPAIN

His Royal Highness and... The Black&White House

We have fantastic news!!!

We are so, so, SO THRILLED to have received this news today: His Royal Highness, Príncipe Felipe, has agreed to be the Honorary President of The Black&White House!!!

This is a true honor and privilege for us, but it is also yet another sign of the impact that The Black&White House project is having in Spanish society, the media, and in promoting new trends in the building industry.

Now we're off to celebrate this momentous occasion!

TeamSPAIN

Wacom Boy

What’s up docs?

This is my little space where I draw all the funny stuff that you find in our Newsletters. I like to draw in Photoshop with my preciousssss, the Wacom Intuos Tablet.

Today I’ve finished drawing a new comic strip that will appear soon in the Fifth Newsletter.

So... stay tuned!!

***SPOILER ALERT*** (((Up!)))

Luis

How Wide is Your Angle?

Dear Followers... who says we can't do two things at once?

Today Jon was having lunch while interviewing the Decathletes for a video. At that same moment, he was also setting up a Twitter account, while taking outside shots of the School of Architecture. David was keeping him company along the way, except for that lunch part. Everything is going according to plan, and on Monday we will finish the interviews and start working on the graphics and art design.

It is interesting how much people change when in front of (or behind) a camera...

Lumus Maxima

The lighting team (Jordi & Victor) don't stop. We paid one of our last visits of the year to Philips today, as we are getting ready to program the lighting protocol for the automatic control system.

Today's acquisitions included a 7W LED bulb for our workstation lamp and 3 LED candles.

The 7W LED bulb caught my attention from the beginning. Its lumen flow is equivalent to that of a 40W tungsten bulb and it doesn't get hot. It also has a life of 45000 hours (45 times that of a common bulb!) and it still projects warm white light (3100K). And here's the best thing: when you buy it, it's already set to replace any ordinary bulb (unscrew the old one, screw in your new MasterLED). The only thing I am not happy about is that it is a bit heavy for its size. Still, I am simply amazed at how easy it can be to start saving energy. It's all about the small changes you make...

TeamSPAIN

Today's Interview

Today "La aventura del Saber," also known as "The Adventure of Knowledge," a very important program broadcasted on "La 2" and "TVE international" (two international broadcasting channels from Spain), is filming a special report about the Solar Decathlon 2009 and the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010.

The interview and the report will be shown sometime in September of 2009! We'll keep you posted.

TeamSPAIN

Tools, Tools, Tools...

Hello Everybody,

Today, Jordi and Katja bought a lot of tools and equipment for the House's construction site. Hammers, screwdrivers, generators, safety equipment, scaffolding, cleaning material, etc.

WE ARE READY TO ASSEMBLE OUR HOUSE NEXT WEEK

We'll see you next week on site!

TeamSPAIN

Lights, Camera... Action!

Yep! We are preparing another video, making it the third that we are currently working on.

This time we are filming a "B&W House Video Presentation." In this video, we will introduce you to our big bosses from the University and to members of the Spanish government, and all the members of TeamSPAIN will introduce you to the features of The B&W House. The goal is to make this video be something that we can show on the Internet, on TV, and at the Mall in Washington, too!

We have just finished writing the script, and we will start filming tomorrow. Some of our team members are feeling a little nervous about getting in front of the camera, but they are brave people and we are confident they will do a good job ;-)

In the meantime, there is a conference being held at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid, at which the Vice-Chancellor of our University will be introducing The Solar Decathlon competition. A group of decathletes will also be visiting the construction site of our House pretty much every day, in order to make sure that everything is running smoothly there.

Lots of action is happening here… not bad at all!

Newsletter Issue Number 4

Hello Everyone!

We have just released our Fourth Newsletter, filled with articles about SIMA, our presentation in Rivas, information about our sponsors, a brand new comic strip, and much more! We are already working on the next issue, but you can enjoy this one in the meantime.

TeamSPAIN

A luxurious Made in Spain dinner with the masterful touch of Chef José Andrés.

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, but we can assure you it's going to be something unforgettable for every one!

Comic Strip

Who said Decathletes don't have a sense of humor! Check out this week's comic strip:

If you want to see all of our comic strips and find more information related to the TeamSPAIN B&W House project, subscribe to our Newsletter at: http://www.solardecathlon.upm.es/

Latest TeamSPAIN meeting

Hello there!

We've just had a really important meeting concerning safety procedures and contest strategies. The conclusions that were reached at this meeting are totally confidential, so we've had to modify the image to preserve the confidentiality of the meeting.

By the way: these meetings are now taking place twice a week! We've pumped up security in case you were thinking of sending in your spies :)

TeamSPAIN Goes for the Oscar

Hi Everyone,

We have just finished the storyboard for our "House Tour Video." Some of us will be acting, others directing and producing, so this will be a fun experience for us. It'll also give us a bit of a break from the measurements, deliveries, and finishing touches that we've been putting on The B&W House.

We've got very refined cinematographic tastes, so we're very picky about who we will allow to direct our video, though here's two candidates who may be up for the job:



Yeah, we wish...

More from us soon!

TeamSPAIN