UIW Athletes Help Maintain Solar House
On Friday, Sept. 19, UIW hosted the 20th annual Meet the Mission, sponsored by Mission and Ministry. Students, faculty, staff and more participated in a variety of service activities both on and off campus, hoping to serve both UIW and the greater San Antonio community. One of these service activities included the repainting of UIW’s LEED Platinum Solar House.
The Solar House was unveiled in 2012, after five years of development under the direction of Dr. Allison Whittemore, retired chair of the UIW Department of Engineering and Physics, and with the assistance of Daniel Potter, Sustainability Office Operations manager. (thewordonline.org). Additionally, the Solar House’s design was contributed to by then-senior Engineering students, who determined the most solar-efficient location on campus to construct the building and they developed some of the building’s unique features.
Since then, this eco-friendly building has provided solar electricity year-round for a variety of UIW’s facilities, including the Ann Barshop Natatorium that’s located adjacent to the building.
Recognizing the significance of having renewable energy powering their beloved Natatorium, members of UIW’s Swimming and Diving team collaborated with Potter, Community Advisor Stephanie Gray and Professor of Engineering Dr. Michael Frye to repaint the Solar house. Having seen the Solar House come to fruition and having witnessed the growth of UIW for the past 15 years, Potter was excited to invite students to engage in the upkeep of this special building.
“My inspiration for collaborating with Dr. Michael Frye, Stephanie Gray and students to repaint the Solar House stemmed from its origins as a student project,” explained Potter. “The Solar House was initially built to provide Engineering students with hands-on experience in sustainable construction, so it felt natural to continue this tradition by allowing students to learn through a maintenance project and give back to the University. This upkeep is crucial because all structures in the environment require consistent maintenance to ensure their durability, performance and longevity.”
Throughout the day, UIW’s athletes painted multiple aspects of the Solar House, including railings, poles and more. The students then returned on Friday, Oct. 10 to complete painting the entirety of the Solar House, restoring the structure to its original glory. When viewing the final product, many Swimming and Diving student volunteers felt proud to have been a part of this project.
“For as long as I have been here at UIW the Solar House has always been a staple, a constant that I see every time I enter or leave the pool,” recalled Gabriella Luna, senior Mechatronics Engineering major and UIW Swimming and Diving team member. “It was not until recently, this past year, that I learned the history behind the Solar House and the fact that some of the solar energy that it collects is provided to the pool. The team was happy to help, and we had an amazing turnout. In the end we were very proud of how it turned out and I have to say the red looks amazing on the house. The team can always look back and be proud of the fact that we played a part in keeping the Solar House looking good. For me, personally, I found it to be an amazing ‘worlds colliding moment’ of perhaps the two most important things in my life; swimming and engineering.”