Read the rest of Electric Utility To Buy University of Maryland’s Solar Decathlon-Winning WaterShed House

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Post tags: design contests, energy efficient design, green architecture, green design, Pepco, photovoltaic, solar, Solar Decathlon, solar thermal, sustainable design, University of Maryland, Watershed

The U.S. Department of Energy has just announced the location of the 2013 Solar Decathlon – as well as the 20 lucky teams who will be competing for green design glory! After being kicked off the National Mall last year, organizers scrambled to find a back up location – and they’ve found a gem in the Golden State. This fall, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California will be filled with energy-efficient prefab homes as they duke it out to see which house can generate the most solar energy!

Read the rest of U.S. Department of Energy Announces the 2013 Solar Decathlon is Coming to California!

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Post tags: Department of Energy, orange county great park, orange county great park solar decathlon, solar, Solar Decathlon, solar decathlon 2013, solar decathlon 2013 news, solar decathlon news, SOLAR HOMES, solar news, Solar Power, solar powered homes, U. S. Department of Energy

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Advanced Architecture, Blaf Architecten, Chalboard Skin Passivhause, crossway house, design standards, france, green design, JustK Passive Haus, Karawitz, passive house, Passivhause, Solar Decathlon, sustainable design

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Post tags: American University of Cairo, AUC, cairo, design for humanity, eco design, egypt, egypt violence, Green Building, green design, military crackdowns, SLIDES, social design, Solar Decathlon, Solar Power, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

One of our favorite events in the world of sustainable innovation, the Solar Decathlon, is again being kicked off the National Mall. In January of this year, the National Park Service temporarily banned the event from its 8-year spot on the National Mall, and while organizers rushed looking for a new venue, the Park Service conceded a strip of grass for the 2011 competition. Now the Park Service is at it again, and the 2013 Solar Decathlon is searching for a new location and a new partner. We think this probably has something to do with the current competition for a National Park redesign, but future construction aside, the Mall is losing a great event.

Read the rest of Solar Decathlon Kicked Off National Mall Again, Seeks New Venue

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Post tags: national mall renovation, Solar Decathlon, solar decathlon 2013, solar decathlon location, solar decathlon national mall, solar decathlon winner

If you’re anything like us, you’ve been having Solar Decathlon withdrawal since the biennial design-build competition ended at the beginning of the month. We’re still buzzing with excitement from the amazing student designed-homes that 19 collegiate teams displayed on the National Mall in Washington D.C., and in our latest video, we take an in-depth look at our three favorite solar-powered prefab homes that battled it out for the crown of the 2011 Solar Decathlon! Even if you already know who won the competition, check out our video to see the race to the finish line for Team Maryland‘s graceful green-roofed WaterShed home, Ohio State‘s elegant enCORE house, and SCI-Arc and Caltech‘s innovative inside-out CHIP House. Watch the video to find out which team reigned supreme!

Read the rest of VIDEO: Announcing the Winner of the 2011 Solar Decathlon

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Post tags: 2011 solar decathlon, 2011 solar decathlon winners, CalTech, CHIP House, chip house solar decathlon, encore house, encore solar decathlon house, Green Building, green design, inhabitat video, ohio solar decathlon, Ohio State, ohio state solar decathlon, ohio state university, Prefab Homes, Sci-Arc, SCI-Arc & Caltech, Solar Decathlon, solar decathlon houses, solar decathlon video, solar panels, Solar Power, solar power homes, Sustainable Building, team maryland watershed, team ohio state, University of Maryland, university of maryland solar decathlon, watershed house, WaterShed Solar Decathlon House

Read the rest of Team Florida’s Solar Decathlon FLeX House Harnesses Passive Design to Keep its Cool in Hot Climates

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", 2011 solar decathlon, eco design, FLeX House, florida, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green home, Prefab, prefab home, Prefab Housing, Solar Decathlon, Solar Decathlon 2011, solar home, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, team Florida

Read the rest of Florida International’s perFORM[D]ance Solar Decathlon House Responds to Its Environment

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Post tags: eco design, florida international university, glazing system, green design, louvers, Murphy Bed, Paul Rudolph, perFORM[D]ance House, photovoltaic roof, Solar Decathlon, sustainable design

Read the rest of Team Belgium’s E-Cube 2011 Solar Decathlon House is a DIY Modular Kit-Home

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Post tags: 2011 solar decathlon, belgian, belgium, e-cube, e-cube house, eco design, energy efficient, ghent university e-cube, Green Building, green design, Recycled Materials, renewable energy, self-sufficient, self-sustaining, Solar Decathlon, student competition, sustainable design, team belgium, team belgium e-cube, team belgium solar decathlon

Read the rest of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Affordable Re_Home is Prepped for Natural Disaster Recovery

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We’re thrilled to announce that this weekend Team Purdue took second place in the 2011 Solar Decathlon! Purdue’s sensible, suburban-style INhome received top marks throughout the competition due to its focus on energy efficiency, mass ‘marketability’, and tried-and-true green building techniques. The team keep Maryland’s competition-winning WaterShed House on its toes throughout the past week as the INHome slipped in and out of first place. In the end the INhome beat out 17 other solar homes from around the world at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and there’s no doubt that their carefully created SIP wall construction and efficient solar-powered cooling system helped them blow the competition out of the water.

Read the rest of Team Purdue’s Suburban INhome Takes 2nd Place in the 2011 Solar Decathlon!

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Read the rest of Team Massachusetts’ 4D Solar Decathlon Home is a 21st-Century Take on the Gable House

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The WaterShed Solar Decathlon house, built by students from the University of Maryland, has taken first place in the design-build competition’s architecture category! And we are not surprised. Ever since we set foot on the National Mall, where WaterShed is currently competing with 18 other eco-friendly prefab homes, we have been ogling the house’s beautiful design, which was inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. WaterShed‘s design focuses heavily on water usage, incorporating constructed wetlands and a green roof that collects and filters the home’s greywater so it can be reused.

Read the rest of Team Maryland Wins the Architecture Contest at the 2011 Solar Decathlon

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The 2011 Solar Decathlon is heating up as 20 teams of students from around the world construct stunning, energy-efficient homes at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. The competition officially opens on September 23rd, but we’re excited to bring you a first look at each of this year’s incredible solar powered homes – hit the jump to check out the state of the art in green building!

Read the rest of 20 Stunning Energy-Efficient Homes in the 2011 Solar Decathlon!

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Post tags: 4D home, Appalachian State university, CHIP home, e-cube, eco design, empowerhouse, enCORE, ENJOY House, First Light, FLeX House, florida international university, green design, habitat for humanity, Hale Pilihonua, hawaii, INhome, living light, Middlebury College, National Mall's West Potomac Park, Ohio State, parsons, perFORM[D], Purdue University, Re_home, Self-Reliance, Solar Decathlon, Solar Homestead, Solar Roofpod, Souther California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology, sustainable design, team belgium, Team Canada, Team China, team Florida, Team Massachusetts, Team New Jersey, Team New York, Team Tidewater Virginia, Tongji University, TRTL, Unit 6 Unplugged, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland, University of Tennessee, victoria university of wellington, washington d.c., Watershed, Y Container

Read the rest of Appalachian State’s Solar Homestead Brings Adaptability and Independent Living to the 2011 Solar Decathlon

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Post tags: appalachian, appalachian state, cheap energy, Climate Change, CO2, DOE, eco house, energy efficient, Environment, environmental design, green architecture, green design, green living, green technology, infrastructure, modular, modular home, net zero, new technology, passive cooling, passive heating, porch, solar competition, Solar Decathlon, Solar Decathlon 2011, Solar Homestead, solar thermal, sustainable design, sustainable living

One of the most common arguments against building energy-efficient homes is that the upfront costs are just too high, but this year’s Solar Decathlon competition is telling another story. For the first time in the design-build contest’s history, the sustainably built prefab homes were judged in the category of affordability. If a home cost under $250,000 to build, the team won full points — and guess what? Not one, but two teams achieved full points! The Empowerhouse, built by students from Parsons the New School for Design and the Stevens Institute of Technology, took first place in the category, with a final cost of $229,000. Affordability played a key role in the team’s design, as Empowerhouse will actually be a Habitat for Humanity home for a Washington, D.C. family after the Solar Decathlon ends. Hit the jump to see the house for yourself!

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Read the rest of Vote For Your Favorite House in the 2011 Solar Decathlon!

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", chip, eco design, empowerhouse, enCORE, First Light, green architecture, Green Building, green design, inhabitat, inhabitat reader's choice, inhabitat readers poll, INhome, Ohio State, parsons + stevens, poll, prefab home, purdue, sci_arc/caltech, Solar Decathlon, Solar Decathlon 2011, student project, sustainable design, Team Canada, team new zealand, TRTL, University of Maryland, Washington DC, Watershed

Read the rest of PHOTOS: Ohio State University’s Solar Decathlon enCORE House Does More with Less in a 900 Sq Foot Space

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Post tags: 2011 solar decathlon, Architecture, “energy efficiency”, “solar energy”, “sustainable architecture”, Eco Architecture, eco building, eco design, enCORE, encore house, energy efficient, green architecture, Green Building, green design, Ohio State, ohio state solar decathlon, ohio state university, osu, Recycled Materials, renewable energy, self sufficiency, self-sufficient, self-sustaining, Solar Decathlon, Solar Power, sustainable design, Sustainable Materials, united states solar decathlon house

Read the rest of Team Canada’s TRTL Solar Decathlon House is a Modern Take on a Native American Home

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We’ve been sitting on the edges of our seats all day, anxiously awaiting today’s Engineering Contest results at the 2011 Solar Decathlon. The results were just announced, and we’re happy to report that Team New Zealand’s First Light House has taken the title! The team’s win is certainly well-deserved, and we admit we already found ourselves swooning over the design well before we even started touring the National Mall in last week. Built by students from the Victoria University of Wellington, the beach house inspired First Light home pays homage to the students’ gorgeous country with its locally sourced materials, ample windows and doors, and an invigorating smell of freshly cut cedar that lets you know you’re home.

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Post tags: 2011 solar decathlon, 2011 solar decathlon architecture, eco design, energy efficient, Engineering Contest winner 2011 Solar Decathlon, First Light Home, first light house, First Light solar decathlon, Green Building, green design, Kiwi Bach, native plants, New Zealand, New Zealand Solar Decathlon, NZ solar decathlon, Recycled Materials, renewable energy, self-sufficient, self-sustaining, solar deacthlon 21011, Solar Decathlon, solar decathlon engineering category, solar decathlon NZ house, sustainable design, team new zealand, team New Zealand solar decathlon, university of wellington, us department of energy, victoria university of wellington