Sustainability, Sun and Fun

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 21, 2009) -- The celebration of sustainability initiatives at the University of Kentucky, Big Blue Goes Green: A Sustainability Showcase, continues its second week of activities Sept. 20-25. Sponsored by the UK President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Office of Facilities Management, the two-week event showcases new opportunities in research and teaching, business operations, and outreach and community engagement at UK, including a solar house designed and built at UK that will compete in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon competition this October in Washington, D.C.

As part of Big Blue Goes Green (BBGG), the public is invited to take a rare tour of UK's solar energy house, the S•KY BLUE House. This tour, scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, will give visitors a sneak peek of the house as it is being finished. Tours of the house will be available at the team's worksite at UK's Electric HVAC Building, located at 425 Stadium View Drive (#287 on UK Interactive Map).

Since early 2008, UK's team has been hard at work designing and constructing the S•KY BLUE House that will compete in the DOE's fourth biennial solar decathlon. Twenty teams from universities worldwide were selected to create and send an 800-square-foot or less solar-powered house, built by students on their home campus, to the National Mall in D.C. The prestigious competition demonstrates homes powered entirely by the sun do not have to sacrifice modern comforts and appealing features. Each team's house will be evaluated in the competition in 10 specific areas: architecture, engineering, market viability, lighting design, communications, comfort, appliances, hot water, energy balance, and home entertainment.

The team behind UK's solar house, the "Blues" Team, is an interdisciplinary group comprised of students, faculty and staff from six colleges and 16 centers and departments within UK. The team has been led by two principal investigators, Donald Colliver, professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at the College of Agriculture, and Gregory Luhan, associate dean for research at the College of Design, as well as faculty from the College of Communications and Information Studies and College of Engineering.

S•KY BLUE House will be fully ADA-compliant and makes strong reference to the Kentucky vernacular while integrating forward-thinking innovations into its boundaries. The result is a striking design based upon an open and porous loft concept anchored by the home’s hearth, the kitchen core, and a series of seamlessly integrated outdoor rooms that envelope the house to form an engaged landscape.

After BBGG's public tour, the UK team will finish work on the home and load the house, solar panels, patio and moving equipment on approximately five semitrailer trucks bound for the Solar Decathlon competition running Oct. 9-18, at the National Mall.

If you can't make the tour of the S•KY BLUE House, there are numerous other activities available to you as part of the second week of Big Blue Goes Green: A Sustainability Showcase, including a local foods tasting, tours, presentations, a gardening workshop and an open house on cutting-edge research. 

Additionally, the campus community can participate in the Sustainability Pledge that focuses on things individuals can do daily that will promote economic vitality, ecological integrity and social justice. By pledging to undertake some of these activities individuals are making a commitment to build a sustainable campus for this generation and for generations to come. Visit www.sustainability.uky.edu  and click Take the Sustainability Pledge.

Some of the other festivities planned for BBGG's second week include: a presentation on the sustainable city and sustainable university; a workshop on organic urban gardens; a tour of Lexington's Recycling Center; a meeting of UK's Greenthumb Environmental Club; an open house featuring exhibits and access to labs and research on sustainability at the UK Center for Manufacturing; a presentation on climate change; displays on UK's sustainability activities; a tour of UK's Delta Room, the central monitoring and dispatch area for main campus; a tour of the McConnell Springs Water Improvement Project; a viewing of the PBS documentary "Liquid Assets"; and a free tasting of locally grown foods presented by UK Dining Services.

And after hitting all of the BBGG events, don't forget to stop by the UK Wildcat Wheels campus Bike Shop to turn in your student passport and be entered into a drawing to win a free commuter bicycle. The bike shop, located in the basement of Blazer Hall, will accept passports before 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.

Unless otherwise noted, all BBGG events are free and open to the public. See www.sustainability.uky.edu for a detailed schedule.