Washington—The National Mall has been transformed into a makeshift village of the future, as twenty universities from around the world compete in the biennial Solar Decathlon. Students spent long hours working on the zero-energy houses which are judged in categories including architecture, engineering and market viability.
University of Kentucky graduate student Drew Roberts was first drawn to the project two years ago. “I was kind of soul searching. I was in the midst of trying to figure out you know what do I want to do as a career and this really struck me as something that’s very interesting to me.”
Fellow Kentucky graduate student Annie Fugazzi echoed Roberts’ enthusiasm. “I’ve learned everything about like the drawing sets, how to do all the drawings and make them into the physical house,” she said. “I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that I would have built a solar house.”
The houses all feature prominent solar panels, which power not only the structures but also give extra energy back into the utility grid.
“We can make the houses efficient and make them better places to live for everyone,” Roberts said. “In the long run it’s going to be healthier and more beneficial for all of us as a nation and as a world. Killing less trees using more of our waste- landfill space is quickly drying up so we have to think of new ways to use these recycled materials, to use the materials we’re throwing away every day like plastic and paper.”
Faculty leader Gregory Luhan assisted students on the project. “On the roof you’ll see solar panels that are up there,” Luhan said. “We are generating 13 KW right now, which is tremendous amount of power to be produced for a 800 sq ft house.”
“Our mantra for the project is live light and the goal of the project and that mantra is really to challenge people to live differently.”
Energy Secretary Steven Chu spoke at the Decathlon Opening Ceremony and highlighted the importance of the event. “We are helping train the next generation of scientists and engineers and architects in an important problem, such an important problem. In the United States roughly 40 percent of the energy in the United States goes into buildings.”