The plain and oddly-located house being built at the corner of Bronson Avenue and University Drive will soon be Carleton’s newest research facility.
Construction of the Carleton Research and Innovation in Sustainable Energy (C-RISE) house, also known as the Urbandale Centre for Home Energy Research, is nearing completion on the north side of campus.
The building, which has a simple rectangular box design with an A-shaped roof, will allow Carleton engineering and architectural department faculty and students to test emerging residential solar energy concepts. It will eventually include solar installations on its roof and inside.
“It’s a test bed for us to try out concepts we’ve studied either in the laboratory or through computer simulations—it’s a chance to do full-scale testing,” said Ian Beausoleil-Morrison, project leader for C-RISE.
The project began in 2008 and will cost about $1.2 million, Beausoleil-Morrison said.
The building is set to be completed in August, he said, but research involving the house has already started.
A handful of graduate students are involved in the building’s design and planning. Some of these students will be able to conduct experiments with the house once finished.
Nina Dmytrenko, a second-year mechanical engineering PhD student, is focusing her doctoral project on cold climate heat pumps that will be tested at the house
“Sometimes experimental work freaks you out, but it also teaches you patience,” Dmytrenko said. “In the end, it is very satisfying when you see the final product.”
Meanwhile, Sebastien Brideau, another mechanical engineering PhD student, will be testing a radiant floor system that works with a computer model he developed himself.
Beausoleil-Morrison said the building will increase the amount of solar energy used for space heating and cooling, and water heating with a “passive solar design” that uses solar-collecting walls and floors.
“By using windows and the sunlight that goes through windows, we’re trying to minimize the heating and cooling demand of the building,” he said.
The house is funded by partners including the provincial and federal government, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and Panasonic, which provided materials and guidance.
C-RISE was also funded by local firm Urbandale Construction.
“We’re hoping [Urbandale] will be able to take some of our concepts and make use for them,” Beausoleil-Morrison said.
He said the location was chosen because it provided optimal sun exposure on campus.
Jesse Rose, a third-year law student who parks his car by the adjacent parking lot, was clueless as to the house’s purpose at first.
“I have no idea. I’ve been wondering that for a while,” he said.
To Brideau, the building to Carleton students would “look like any other house,” but he said it will greatly benefit students.
“We’ll learn lots about how to design and operate houses to reduce energy consumption.”
