Tuesday’s open house in the main gym of the Physical Activities Complex promised “everything you need to know about Campus Recreation, Varsity and other ways to get involved. Visit a program or club booth for information, test your skills against a varsity athlete or watch our clubs perform. Lots of prizes to be won.” Lots of smiles, too, judging from this shot of Emefa Quist, whose sport is volleyball, and Amro Tonbol, who may be holding a basketball but who’s best known on the squash court. Most varsity Warrior teams have held their first meetings for the 2009-10 season; registration is under way this week for campus recreation leagues and next week for instructional sports programs. There's more sports news at the end of this Daily Bulletin.

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Solar house on display in Toronto Sunday

a release from the UW media relations office

UW's entry in an international competition to develop a prefabricated solar home will introduce its project in Toronto this weekend, before packing it up and shipping it to Washington D.C.

Team North, comprised of students and faculty from the University of Waterloo, Ryerson University and Simon Fraser University, along with industry partners, is one of only two Canadian finalist entries selected to participate in the prestigious 2009 Solar Decathlon competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The solar decathlon will be held October 9-18 on the National Mall in Washington, featuring 20 university-based teams from around the world and their prototype solar homes. The teams must each erect full-scale houses within seven days, then compete across 10 categories measuring design quality, energy efficiency and operational performance.

Team North has developed North House, a marketable solar-powered home for people with active lifestyles. The team has combined green building, solar and interactive technologies with advanced manufacturing techniques in order to reduce energy demand, foster a conservation ethic and boost the quality of life for Canadians.

The team involves students and faculty from the school of interactive arts and technology at Simon Fraser University; the departments of architectural science and mechanical engineering at Ryerson; and the school of architecture, the department of civil and environmental engineering, and the department of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at Waterloo.

"North House will offer powerful solutions for the future by combining reduced energy consumption with a robust capacity to produce its own energy from renewable solar resources." said Maun Demchenko, Team North's director of public relations. "North House will serve as a vehicle for teaching the public about solar technologies and how they can be used in new and existing housing. It will showcase new sustainable green construction building practices and Canadian design innovation on a world stage. It is an honour to represent our country and our various disciplines in this event."

North House, which deploys the latest in energy-efficient technologies and sustainable materials, will demonstrate how design can reduce energy use while occupants maintain a high quality of life. Such an integrated approach to construction draws on an array of building components and systems to create a more comfortable building, produce energy and reduce environmental impacts.

"The North House project has stimulated a range of research initiatives, that will be physically tested in the prototype home," said Geoffrey Thün, UW architecture professor and the primary investigator for the project. "Over the course of this work, we have developed new window and shading systems, advanced digital controls that enable owners to interact more meaningfully with their homes and examined the potential for new forms of prefabricated housing to offer a sustainable alternative to current housing."

Unlike most other competitors, Team North will continue for several years after the competition. Team members will conduct long-term monitoring and testing on the house prototype. They will implement the new technologies and research the designs with industry partners in Canada, aiming to bring a solar house to market in the near future.

Before North House travels to Washington, Team North will host a send off celebration showcasing the completed house, the team and the sponsors from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday at the offices of MCM 2001 Inc. (70 Industry Street, Toronto).

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Happening today, tomorrow, and soon

There's been much publicity over the past few weeks about the 250th anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which was fought September 13, 1759, at what's now Québec City. As a gesture toward marking the occasion, UW's library is displaying one of its older (and more unusual) treasures on the first floor of the Dana Porter Library, outside the rare books room. It's "our earliest piece of Canadiana and a significant gift," says Susan Mavor, special collections library, noting that the item was given to UW in 2000 by Val O'Donovan, who was at that time the university's chancellor. It's a hand-written report of the battle by one of the British commanders, Rear-Admiral Charles Holmes, the sea commander who was third in command under General James Wolfe and had the duty of sending word home about the military victory and Wolfe's death. The 7-page manuscript was formerly in the collection of the Fermor-Hesketh family in Northamptonshire, England; it was sold at auction at Sotheby's and purchased by O'Donovan, who gave it to the university. "I planned to make it an anonymous gift," he said at the time, "but president David Johnston persuaded me that it would be a good thing to reveal that an engineer can have a love of the arts."

Students from around the world are welcome tonight at a reception to be held in the Festival Room of South Campus Hall. They're told: "The International Student Reception is a great opportunity for you to meet other international students, members from the international student connections program, advisors from the international student office, and global representatives from different countries." The reception runs from 5:30 to 8:00. The International Student Office, which organizes the event, "is your connection to the University of Waterloo and is part of the services provided by the Waterloo International office. The ISO assists students in maintaining their legal status in Canada, provides assistance and support for students and their dependents, and promotes interaction with and integration into the University of Waterloo student community at large."

Coming to campus tomorrow is a celebration of the annual Car-Free Day, sponsored by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group. Says WPIRG's publicity: "Once again this year WPIRG is proud to present the event that will get you out of your cars and into a good time. Join us for a corn roast, music provided by the cool kids at SoundFM, mind-blowing informative booths from campus ands the community, crazy bikes from the bike forest, a part swap provided by UW Cycling Club, a bike auction hosted by the UW Bike Centre with viewing at noon, a bus from Grand River Transit and oh so much more." Activities will run from 11:00 to 2:00 tomorrow in the Student Life Centre courtyard.

The information systems and technology department reports that campus wireless was down from 2:40 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. yesterday "when the primary Aruba controller failed, and required a power cycle to restore". • Mary Graham, who has worked at UW since 1990, most recently as a research officer in the development and alumni affairs office, officially retired as of September 1. • Today and every Thursday this term, an advisor from the career services office will be on site in the Student Life Centre from 11:30 to 1:00 for what's dubbed the Career Café.

Saturday's Warrior football game against Laurier will be carried on television, something that doesn't exactly happen every week. The broadcast, on the cable TV channel "The Score", will include the launch of a 30-second commercial promoting UW athletics that was created this summer under the guidance of athletics director Bob Copeland. It's already available for viewing on YouTube. Saturday's game, inevitably nicknamed "the Battle of Waterloo", is a home game for WLU, so will be played at University Stadium on Seagram Drive, starting at 1 p.m.

Members of the Warrior men's hockey team will be participating in a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation today, says a note from the athletics department. They're participating in something called the Big Bike Ride: "The Warriors will be riding a 30-seat bike on a 30-minute ride through Waterloo beginning at 12:30, leaving from McGinnis Front Row restaurant. Their goal was to raise a minimum of $1,500 by having each player raise $50 each — they have already surpassed this total."

CAR

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