Homes of the Future - Solar Decathlon 2007
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 4:00 pm 
By Ryan BrownPublic competition is often used as a tool to spur innovation. Recent high-profile examples include the widely publicized Ansari X-Prize and the DARPA Grand Challenge. The technologies developed by each of the teams in these competitions serve to advance the state of the art in the field.
To bring this competition and innovation to the field of high-performance (green), solar-powered homes, the US Department of Energy created the Solar Decathlon. Here’s a description from their website:
The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.
The competition is composed of 10 contests, each grading a different aspect of the designs. The 10 contests are: Architecture, Engineering, Market Viability, Communications, Comfort Zone, Appliances, Hot Water, Lighting, Energy Balance, Getting Around. This variety forces the students to make difficult trade-offs when optimizing their designs, and of course to innovate.
For those in the DC area, the Solar Decathlon takes place on the National Mall this week, and the homes are open to the public every day except Wednesday, 10/17. The winner is announced on Friday. Here are a few of the competing designs for 2007:
The University of Colorado has won both of the past two competitions (2002 and 2005). Here is a rendering of their 2007 design:
As we’re in Austin, here is the UT design:
Finally, I’m an Aggie, so here is the Texas A&M Design:
For more details check out the main Solar Decathlon Website and the Inhabitat Coverage. Also, here’s a recent Statesman article about the UT design - UT team ready as solar decathlon opens. Send me an email if you plan to check it out in person.
Here’s hoping for a Texas team to end the Colorado Dynasty.
