Archive for April, 2010

Care in the Community

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Hey guys ‘n’ dolls,

For those of you who remember the random bombshell that was dropped on us a few weeks back about a community day – well it happened on Saturday! Hannah and I managed to scramble some stuff together amidst all the workload that we’re all drowning in and all the frustrating paperwork (7 page risk assessment for using crayons?!…MENTAL). We exhibited samples of materials as well as our posters and we also had a TV and a projector showing the awesomeness of our team. 

It wasn’t as busy as we had hoped as we were located on the top floor of Portland Building, but for those who managed to get there, the responses that we got from the public were all positive – something we should be used to by now! Everyone was extremely impressed at the fact that it was a student project and we’d built this by ourselves and you should all be uber proud!

In our little breaks we had a play around with liquid nitrogen courtesy of the ChemEngs and a go on a Segway – embarrassingly, some 8 year olds were better than us!

Thanks to those from the construction team who came to help. Keep it up team!! 

Janet

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The Home Straight

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Dear Readers,

Once again I must apologise for the lack of posts on this here blog for… well, a while now. As Ben explained in the last entry, we student members of the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E. team have gone back to being exactly that – students. Projects and essays and dissertations and trivialities like social lives have been taking up our time, but that’s all about to change again. We find ourselves just over a month away from going to Madrid, and the site is calling us back…

Being there today was exactly the rush of memories I expected, but with a different atmosphere. It’s clear in the workshop that critical analysis has been undertaken and big decisions made in the wake of Ecobuild (both its successes and failures), and also that we are approaching the Solar Decathlon with a clearer head.

In a more tangible sense, these decisions mean that this week sees the installation of improved floors in the First Floor modules (timber frame, supported by steel L-brackets), construction and reconstruction of the guttering and subsequent insulation of the roofs, and the development of the architraves and skirting boards as we begin to make the house feel more like a home.

From our Communication corner of H.O.U.S.E. HQ, we had the opportunity at the University’s recent Open Day to spread the word of the project, but I will leave a review of that to the lovely ladies who masterminded it – Janet Pang and Hannah Griffiths. And as another plus, the family House will be making their voices heard anew on the airwaves as they start to visit us on site again! You can still follow the thoughts of Mr Blue, Ms Green and Kid Orange right here.

So in short, we know we’ve been away for a while, but we are now entering the home straight – so take your seats!

Tom

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