Team Middlebury is one of the twenty teams chosen to compete in this year’s US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition and their entry is the design and building of a socially and environmentally sustainable house called the InSite house. The team is made up of more than 100 Middlebury College undergraduate students from over 25 different academic disciplines. The finished two bedroom and one bathroom house will measure 956 square feet, while the building costs are $250,000.

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The first team from the Czech Republic to enter the Solar Decathlon is Team CTU, made up of 26 students who set their sights on designing and building a prototype for future housing while raising awareness of solar energy, energy efficiency, and Czech architecture and engineering.

Their submission in the Solar Decathlon 2013, for which judging takes place in October 2013 in Irvine, California, is AIR House, which stands for Affordable – Innovative – Recyclable. Utilizing energy effective materials and technologies, AIR House provides a comfortable environment for older generations that appeals to the senses and respects the environment.

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Recognizing a housing crisis in New England, where many renters and homeowners pay over a third of their income on housing, much of which includes homes that were built before 1950 and are extremely inefficient, the ∆T90 team at Norwich University in Vermont designed a high performance, affordable solution that has been accepted in the Solar Decathlon 2013 that takes place in October 2013 in Irvine, California.

Addressing concerns that include inefficient heating systems, insufficient insulation, and leaky construction of door and window assemblies that contribute to fuel costs that are sometimes equivalent to mortgage payments, the ∆T90 team took “an unapologetic design position” to deliver a modular home that is tailored to the northeastern region of the United States.

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A Miami Beach home, located at 2020 Alton, has been awarded LEED Platinum, with the score of 120/89.5. The project is a joint effort of developer Matthew Lahn of the Florida Green Home Design Group, architect Ari Sklar of Sklarchitecture, and general contractor Robert Arkin. The project also has an -8 HERS score, has been named an Energy Star Qualified Home, and has received the National Green Building Standard Emerald rating, which indicates that the house saves 60% or more of its energy use.

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After years in limbo, Philadelphia’s first multi-family Passive House housing project is finished and on the market. Located at 219-235 W. George St., the homes were developed by the Onion Flats group in association with Domani Developers. The housing complex is known as the Onion Flats Stable. Of the projected 70 units, the team later downsized the project to only 27 units due to financial difficulties.

The units have a net living area of 2500 square feet, which includes 3 bedrooms and office space, and 3 bathrooms. About one third of the units in this development are set to be Affordable Housing units. This housing project was designed to obtain the LEED Platinum status, making it the first multi apartment complex in the US to receive this certification.

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