ISU's solar decathlon team partners with DMACC program

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University's solar decathletes are teaming up with the Architectural Millwork Program at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Ankeny to build cabinetry for the Interlock House -- ISU's entry into the U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon competition.

Iowa State is one of 20 teams participating in the fourth Solar Decathlon, a competition to design, build and operate the most attractive, effective and energy-efficient solar-powered house. About 75 ISU students have worked more than a year on the design, construction, communications and fund raising for the 800-square-foot Interlock House, which will produce more energy than it uses. The houses will be judged and displayed at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Oct. 9-18.

The DMACC class taught by George Granseth, chair of architectural millwork, will donate labor and ISU will pay for materials for the kitchen and bedroom cabinetry. The kitchen will have a 12-foot wall of cabinets, including a small desk. The bedroom will have built-in cabinets on either side of a pull-down bed.

Interlock House bedroom

The cabinets will be constructed of maple veneer exteriors over aspen flake-board. Granseth said the materials will be as green as possible, including environmentally friendly resins and water-based varnishes. Kitchen countertops will be long-lasting concrete with recycled glass aggregate from the Ames Resource Recovery Plant.

"This project gives our students the opportunity to work with specifications and designs coming from architects, which is what they'll be doing in the workplace," Granseth said. "The students need to learn how to take architects' concepts and engineer them. This is a good opportunity for them to do that."

Granseth said the architectural millwork students will work about five hours a day for two or three weeks to complete the cabinets by mid-June.

"DMACC has one of the best shops I've ever seen," said Clare Cardinal-Pett, ISU architecture associate professor and a faculty leader for the project. "They are completely equipped with CNC routers and PLC controlled machines like those used in modern millwork facilities. We're fortunate to be able to work with them."