Last week the judges of the 2013 Solar Decathlon announced this year’s winner. The award went to Team Austria’s LISI House, which was a clear leader all along, having already won the Communications, Market Appeal and Energy Balance competitions. With LISI house, Team Austria sought to create a home, which seamlessly combines indoor and outdoor living, and can be built anywhere, be it in the Alpine forests of Austria or the temperate regions of California.
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.
One of the entries to this years Solar Decathlon competition is the so-called FluxHome project, envisioned and designed by a team of University of Southern California students. Their 1,000-square-foot solar-powered entry will be controlled by a single iPad. This ability to control all the complicated automation systems of this sustainable home offers the team an edge in the competition. FluxHome also uses the advantage of ample sunlight of the Southern California region to improve the indoor quality of life in this home.
