Energy by Design

Engage: 

Have the students view this introduction video below on a passive solar community in Colorado. Geos Neighborhood in Arvada, Colorado has charged ahead in the quest for sustainable, net-zero, solar, fossil-fuel-free homes. In this video, Developer Norbert Klebl shares the secret formula to how these homes work. Visit youtu.be/4y8NJCXuqgE. Also see a net-zero energy home community in Greenville, SC. For more information, visit www.addison-homes.com/ service/our-model-homes. Additional information also is available at www.veic.org/clients-results/case-studies/ high-efficiency-modular-homes-are-an-affordablehousing-solution.

Explore: 

Place the cardboard box on a table so that the students can see it. The box will simulate a house. Using a marker, draw in windows and doors. Use the flashlight to simulate the sun rising in the east, tracking across the wall and roof of the box house, and setting in the west. (See the sun’s path in the illustration on the student information sheet.) Ask the class the following questions:

• What difference does the orientation of a house facing east, west, north, or south make in siting a home? (It will determine how the sunlight/heat streams into the house.)

• Can you think of any reasons why you might want to consider which way the house faces? (You may want to avoid intense sunlight in summer and/or use sunlight to help heat your home in winter.)

• Which direction does your bedroom window face?

• Do you prefer warm sunlight streaming in in the morning, or would you prefer to have the afternoon sun warm your room? • How about light and heat coming into the kitchen?

Explain: 

Hand out the student project information and worksheets and explain to the students that they are going to select a lot in a neighborhood, site a house on the lot and make decisions on landscaping and building designs for energy efficiency. Have the students read through the handout Design Considerations for Energy Efficiency. The students can use the following websites as a starting point for their research.

• www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficienthome-design/passive-solar-home-design

• www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficienthome-design/ultra-efficient-home-design

• www.youtube.com/c/Addison-homes/featured

• www.veic.org/clients-results/case-studies/highefficiency-modular-homes-are-an-affordable-housingsolution

Elaborate: 

Allow the students to investigate other building materials that can improve the energy efficiency of the home. Using this online lab, the students will test which materials insulate a home better during certain seasons. The students then can begin researching energy-efficient design to complete the design task. Use this website as a starting point – www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/ virtual_labs/PS06/PS06.html. Give the students at least a full class period (or more if time allows) to read the research on the energy-efficient design information and to complete the worksheets.

Evaluate: 

Then have the students present their energy-efficient design ideas to the class. For more advanced classes, have the students create a model of their home highlighting energy-efficient designs or prepare simple site blueprints showing the placement of the home on the lot, landscaping and other features.

E-Learning Activity:

INTERACTIVE GAME: YOU HAVE THE POWER

In this interactive, you select one of three locations and then try to provide 100 percent of that community’s electricity needs while staying within your budget of $1,000,000. Each location has different characteristics that affect how much each energy resource costs. To begin, visit www.nationalgeographic.org/education/ connect-transform-future/. This activity could be used as an additional ELABORATE activity

Then have the students present their energy-efficient design ideas to the class. For more advanced classes, have the students create a model of their home highlighting energy-efficient designs or prepare simple site blueprints showing the placement of the home on the lot, landscaping and other features.