Renvu and Solaria partner on project with University of Kansas architecture design studio

Studio 804 is a graduate level architecture design studio at the University of Kansas. The studio’s current residential project is a 1,500 square-foot house accompanied by a 500 square-foot accessory home behind it, both of which were entirely designed and constructed by 17 University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design graduate students.

The project includes home automation systems, powered by 18, 320-W Solaria solar panels on the roof. These solar panels will provide 5.7 kW of power to the house, enough to reasonably offset its energy costs per month.

“The panels themselves are lightweight, making our positioning of them on our roof very manageable. Installing them onto our in-house fabricated steel frames was an extremely smooth process and they were able to be hooked up to our electrical system with great ease,” said Dan Rockhill, professor and executive director of the Studio 804 graduate school. “The completed array offers a sleek and tasteful addition to our building’s roof and compliments the project’s modern aesthetic.”

“Solaria is thrilled to be championing this terrific University of Kansas Department of Architecture project,” said Solaria CEO Suvi Sharma. “Our firm is deeply committed to combating climate change; wider deployment of solar and other clean technologies is crucial to achieving these goals. This innovative Studio 804 structure is an exemplar that should be replicated by all builders to make homes and commercial properties as energy efficient and environmentally responsible as possible.  Solaria is proud to be contributing state-of-art Solaria PowerXT modules to this Studio 804 net zero energy project.”

The group partnered with solar distributor Renvu to complete the project.

“We are happy to have provided equipment and solar design assistance to Studio 804, and having helped bring this non-profit project to completion,” said Renvu marketing manager Tatyana Grinenko.

The houses are located on a spacious site that includes the second largest burr oak tree in Kansas. Views of this tree as well as the rest of the surrounding natural landscape are generous, as the entire East side of both structures is clad in glass. The project is on track to achieve LEED Platinum certification through intelligent green design. This will be the group’s 11th LEED Platinum certified house.

“Studio 804 places tremendous value on the environmentally-conscious aspect of modern design, being careful to use the most sustainable and innovative technologies available to us,” said Rockhill.

The non-profit subcontracts very few to none of the trades required to complete their building projects, preferring the hands-on experience and educational value that the graduate students gain by doing it themselves.

“Studio 804 greatly appreciates the support of companies like Renvu and Solaria that share our belief in the importance of environmentally responsible design. It is through that support that we are able to provide a model for others to understand the value of sustainable architecture,” said Rockhill.