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Buildings are among the more durable artifacts that society produces with impacts on the environment that far outlive their makers. Early design decisions can affect not only the quality of the architecture but also the building’s energy consumption for decades. Educating students about the importance of designing high quality, high performance buildings that are not only delightful but also rely less on the need for imported or non-renewable energy sources is one of the ultimate aims of the “Solar Decathlon” project.

A small interdisciplinary group of Cal Poly faculty has been awarded an invitation to enter into the second Solar Decathlon, a US Department of Energy (DOE)/National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) competition for 18 groups of university students and faculty to design and build a 500-800 square foot solar-powered residence on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2005. The house will be constructed and tested in San Luis Obispo, deconstructed and transported to Washington, D.C., and re-constructed on the Mall for the three week competition. There are ten categories in the competition, including architectural design as well as performance related issues (thermal performance, lighting, etc.) After the competition, it is likely that the house will be sited in San Luis Obispo in order to serve as a full-scale, functioning case study for teaching and learning about environmental issues and architecture.

For more information about the Solar Decathlon competition, see:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon.

For more current information on the Cal Poly Solar Decathlon team, see:
http://www.calpoly.edu/~recclub.