Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2021-2023 Build Challenge:
Illinois Solar Decathlon
Build Team, Landscape Sub-Team
Etienne Sirois, Matthew Jenkins, Eduardo Tapia, Caroline Beirne
1318 Rockland Drive, Rantoul, Illinois
Front view of the house
Back view of the house
Interior of the House
Sustainable house design includes multi-zone HVAC systems, passive lighting from the sun, and an envelope reducing energy loss from the structure.
Electrical systems use almost exclusively LED light bulbs to reduce energy costs.
Back Patio and Rain Garden
Solar Panels and PV&E System
Pathway and Vegetable Planters
Driveway
Front Patio
Front Walkway
Planting Plan
Grading Plan
Juxtaposing the commonly-found flat landscape in Illinois, the site's undulating landscape approach manages the increasingly important resource of water and reuses it for the site’s rain gardens.
Performance of the rain gardens will not be impacted in times of severe drought or precipitation with the accumulation and storage of rainwater in the basins.
Swales at this site will function year-round to protect the structural integrity of the house and gardens by drawing water away from the foundation.
Including such innovative approaches in small-scale grading, the landscape of this site will function similarly to large-scale river systems.
In consideration to resilience, the landscape is constructed to handle the increasingly frequent strong storms and flooding throughout this part of Central Illinois.
The RENU House site contains dedicated rain gardens and native plantings, helping to restore the former wetland and prairie landscape. The rain gardens allow water to absorb naturally into the soil, instead of running off and flooding stormwater management systems.
The implemented native plants will also aid in replenishing nutrients and balancing acidity that non-native plants have disrupted.
The site also uses permeable paving, which will help to slow the degradation of the landscape structure and maintain the integrity of the hardscape.
With this house being located in a municipality with aging infrastructure, it was essential for the landscape design to mitigate risks associated with stormwater overflow.
By allowing plenty of locations where the excess water can drain, the landscape provides an innovation to the traditional approach of small-scale residential landscape design.
Contracting:
In addition to the full design plan of the landscape, the landscape sub-team fully contracted the construction process start to finish, including bidding, contracts, design interpretation, and funding.