32 Mill Street Housing Restoration

32 Mill Street is a retrofitted 20th century home in Kitchener, ON. Competing in the US DOE’s 2023 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, we partnered with the Kitchener Urban Native Wigwam Project (KUNWP), who acquired the home from the city.

The structure consisted of an exterior double wythe structural brick wall and light wood framing. As part of the retrofit, several walls and stairs were replaced, and to support the added solar panel loads on the roof, the existing rafters were reinforced.

As a Structural Working Member at the time, I assisted in the benching calculations, performed research on the solar panel specifications and prepared reports for the Decathlon. Additionally, I was sponsored to present this project in Colorado, where our school earned First in Engineering and $20k USD in funding.