The U.S. Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011:
Parsons the New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology’s team built the cheapest house in this year’s decathlon. Spending $229,890 on its high-efficiency, solar-powered home, the team tied with Purdue University in the affordability contest on Tuesday. Purdue spent about $20,000 more, however, both teams were below the target construction cost of $250,000 or less.
This year, the Parsons-Stevens team is partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. The team’s student architects designed the home to accommodate a single parent with an annual income of about $50,000. The team’s market strategy specified that the “family must have experienced unsafe conditions or a severe rent burden in its current home and demonstrate a willingness to participate in the construction and maintenance of the house.”
For information on the winning family, click here.
As of Friday morning, the team ranks 6th place overall. For more information on Parsons-Stevens, click here.
The decathlon winner will be announced on Saturday, October 1. For final results, go here.