Friday, October 14, 2005
Solar Decathlon
Solar Decathlon 2005 is on the Mall in Washington right now! Here are the entries:
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo:
Concordia University (Montreal):
University of Colorado:
Cornell University:
Designed to be produced as manufactured housing, with a target cost between $50,000 and $100,000.
Crowder College:
Florida International University:
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid:
University of Maryland:
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth:
House will be donated to Habitat for Humanity after competition.
University of Michigan:
University of Missouri, Rolla:
New York Institute of Technology:
Uses a hydrogen fuel cell instead of batteries.
Pittsburgh Synergy:
Universidad de Puerto Rico:
Rhode Island School of Design:
University of Texas:
Virginia Tech:
Washington State University:
There's a lot more about these houses here, including links to the web sites for each house/project. I've been hoping that the U of M would win this, but the competition looks fierce (and I'm afraid they finish dead last in the sketches provided for the overview, although Pittsburgh's is pretty lame as well--photos of models always look tacky). From a purely aesthetic viewpoint, I like the Concordia, Cornell, Madrid, Massachusetts, Missouri-Rolla and Puerto Rico designs best. While the need to transport the houses is a positive in terms of possible conversion to mass production, it does have the downside that it prevents any use of earth sheltering. A few of the houses are intended to be hooked up to ground-source heat pumps once they reach their permanent locations.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo:
Concordia University (Montreal):
University of Colorado:
Cornell University:
Designed to be produced as manufactured housing, with a target cost between $50,000 and $100,000.
Crowder College:
Florida International University:
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid:
University of Maryland:
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth:
House will be donated to Habitat for Humanity after competition.
University of Michigan:
University of Missouri, Rolla:
New York Institute of Technology:
Uses a hydrogen fuel cell instead of batteries.
Pittsburgh Synergy:
Universidad de Puerto Rico:
Rhode Island School of Design:
University of Texas:
Virginia Tech:
Washington State University:
There's a lot more about these houses here, including links to the web sites for each house/project. I've been hoping that the U of M would win this, but the competition looks fierce (and I'm afraid they finish dead last in the sketches provided for the overview, although Pittsburgh's is pretty lame as well--photos of models always look tacky). From a purely aesthetic viewpoint, I like the Concordia, Cornell, Madrid, Massachusetts, Missouri-Rolla and Puerto Rico designs best. While the need to transport the houses is a positive in terms of possible conversion to mass production, it does have the downside that it prevents any use of earth sheltering. A few of the houses are intended to be hooked up to ground-source heat pumps once they reach their permanent locations.
