Today was my first early start, with my alarm waking me up at 5am. As we are mid-way through construction a few team members have been swapped between shifts. I have moved from the afternoon shift, leaving the accommodation at 1:30pm, to the morning leaving at 6am, so no more sleep ins for me during construction.

One of the major milestones for the team today was the installation of all the doors and assembly of the majority of our decks. We can now walk up our deck ramps and lock up our house! The house is looking more complete each day.

Today also marked a transition for the building services team. From installation to testing.

I spent the first part of my day under the house, pulling through one of our final cables. The cable for our Electric Vehicle Charger. One of the contests in the decathlon is Sustainable Transportation, we have to use an electric vehicle to simulate typical household driving patterns by completing a number of driving tasks. It is essential that we are smart about when we charge the car to ensure that we are able to make the most of the solar power and battery storage we have available.

Just before I left site electricity was connected to the house. Now we can start testing and commissioning all the electrical systems inside the Desert Rose. This includes the building automation and HVAC systems. Brendan, Bob and Dan have spent the day up on the roof installing our solar panels and by tomorrow afternoon we will be generating our own power!

– Lachlan Moodie, Building Services Team Member