Posts Tagged ‘Solar Decathlon’
Houses Without Homes
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s home, image by afagen, Flickr Creative Commons
What happens to the Solar Decathlon houses after the competition’s over?
Team California’s so-called “Refract House” looks like it belongs high up in the Hollywood Hills, overlooking Los Angeles.
The structure was easily one of the most gorgeous in this year’s Solar Decathlon competition, held recently on the National Mall. (See picture below.) Shaped like a crooked U, it’s flooded with light around every corner. The exterior walls are made of iconic redwood. And the doors open onto an expansive porch with dune-like grasses around the edge.
“Refract” was no cinch to build; nor was it cheap. In addition to the $100,000 given to each of the 21 contending university teams to build “houses that use innovative, high-tech elements in ingenious ways,” Team California raised roughly $350,000 more to construct its house, and $1.4 million overall for other costs, including travel expenses to Washington, D.C.
So it’s easy to understand why after all that time and preparation—not to mention the new nationwide “obsession” with all things green—the house may end up not in a neighborhood near you, but on display thousands of miles away. In Santiago, Chile.
Energy Efficient or Not Energy Efficient–It’s All Labeled the Same!
The Department of Energy has been getting some great publicity—definitely on this blog—this month for its gigantic Solar Decathlon competition sprawled across the National Mall. But as DOE officials were shaking hands, making announcements, and touring various homes, someone in their department managed to leak an important, internal document to the New York Times.
Yesterday, the newspaper broke the story that many products given the Energy Star label may very well be undeserving of the distinction, according to an internal audit.
Read More “Energy Efficient or Not Energy Efficient–It’s All Labeled the Same!” »
Solar Decathlon Taking Over National Mall
A video of Rice University’s Solar Decathlon home*
The solar power trend still hasn’t rocketed through mainstream America.
But if you want to see solar homes lined up one right after another, proudly exhibiting the latest solar technology and energy-saving appliances/building materials, look no further than the National Mall.
