June 28, 2019 marks the day when our shipping container embarked on its journey from Golden, Colorado, USA to Ben Guerir, Morocco: 5,179 mi, or 8,344 km trip. It will start on a railway in Golden and travel across the United States to New York City, where it will be loaded onto a ship and transported from there to Casablanca, Morocco. From there, it will be taken to Ben Guerir by truck or rail.
We knew from early on in the planning and design phase of the Solar Decathlon Africa that we would need to send a shipping container from Colorado as there were several components we planned to build and acquire there. The container now contains many critical aspects of the Inter House design – including our Conditioning Energy Recovery Ventilator and other HVAC system parts, solar panels, and a constructed wetland. We also chose to get all our windows, window blinds, and two exterior doors in Colorado because of existing connections with partners there. One of the most exciting things we are shipping is a custom-built water wall, which is the interior wall between our kitchen and bathroom that contains all of the major plumbing for the Inter House. (Check out this time-lapse of the the wall construction!) Packing this wall was a bit precarious, but we decided that building it ahead of time would save that time during our short 3-week construction period.
I wish we could see our shipping container’s journey, but we will be reassured in early August when we know it has arrived safely. Stay tuned for updates on our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages!
Katie Schneider, Inter House Team Project Manager
