SOUTHFIELD - Students at Lawrence Tech University participating in the Solar Decathlon 2007 have easy access to the plans, theories and textbooks that address energy efficient construction techniques.

Not-so-readily available is the expertise of construction workers willing to give their time to turn the students' plans and blueprints into reality, which, in this case, comes in the form of a small house that's being constructed on a back parking lot at LTU.

But a handful of helpful union trades workers are working in their off hours to help the students construct a house that's a model of energy efficiency, which will be entered into a contest next month in Washington D.C.

"I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning," said Clarice Westman, a 25-year-old LTU senior who is working on the house - as well as on her dual major of architecture and civil engineering. "We've all learned a lot, but with their expertise, the pros are saving our butts."

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Solar Decathlon 2007 is an international project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Twenty student teams from universities and colleges across the North America and Europe compete to design, build, and display a highly energy-efficient solar-powered home as part of a "solar village" that will be erected on the National Mall in Washington.

Lawrence Tech is the smallest school in the contest, and the only one from Michigan.

With help from carpenters, electricians, operating engineers and sheet metal workers - everyone involved is quick to point out that this is a student-led project - the 800-square-foot house is coming together nicely. The contest requires that the completed house be disassembled, trucked to Washington, D.C. and then be reassembled for the competition.

"Building it would be a lot easier if it just stayed in one place, it adds to the complexity having to come apart at different areas and then be reassembled," said the student construction manager, Larry Bukowski, who is a senior studying construction management. "But you can only learn so much in a classroom, and this project has taught me a lot about what can go right and wrong, and relating with architects and engineers" (who are fellow students).

Some of the energy efficient features of the house include:

*Thirty six 200-watt photovoltaic solar panels on the house, which provide a potential source of 7.2 kilowatts of electricity. Design plans say the panels will often provide enough electricity to power the house, and charge batteries for use when the sun isn't making an appearance. Designers say the house would need to be connected to the power grid and may need electricity from the utility during the winter months.

*The house will be heated via a solar thermal system. The sun heats water/glycol- filled copper tubes that are wrapped by solar collectors. The solution in the tubes will transfer heat to a manifold, and then coils in a water tank, which acts as the reservoir for potable water and the heating system.

Heat is transferred throughout the house via tubes in a radiant floor system.

*Glass in the doors turns dark when the sun is out, just like some eyeglass lenses, to shade out the sun.

*The home will be illuminated by energy-saving fluorescent and LEDs lights.

*The house's walls are construction of structurally insulated panels, which replace typical framing materials. The panels consist of two layers of OSB laminated to opposite sides of insulating foam.

The after-hours construction process with volunteer labor is proceeding haltingly, but it's moving along, said Rick Hoste of IBEW Local 58. He credited fellow journeyman Steve Huck for his leadership on the project and Centerline Electric with providing materials and equipment. The Local 58 Training Center put a photovoltaic program in place last year to teach members about solar power.

The Michigan Regional Carpenters Council has also been a major contributor.

Hoste said the role of the professional electricians, under the rules of the competition, has been to assist the students in pulling wire, bending conduit and making final hookups and terminations.

"It's a pretty informal setting," Hoste said. "The kids give us drawings and designs, we talk to them, hash things out, and we might help them tweak things a bit and provide the tools of the trades, but it's basically their job. The kids are great. They have a lot of energy.

THE SOLAR HOUSE has photovoltaic panels on the roof to create electricity.

IBEW Local 58ers Rick Hoste, left, and Sean Houghton mark a section of conduit before cutting it, while working at the back of the house. Between them is LTU student Brandon Butler.