INHABITAT REPORTS FROM SOLAR DECATHLON - Photos!
by Jill Fehrenbacher
We came, we saw, and we were won-over by the ingenious designs and architectural talent on display at this years Solar Decathlon on the Mall in Washington DC. As if it weren’t enough of a feat to design and build a zero-energy house which is ENTIRELY POWERED BY THE SUN, many of the student teams at this year’s Solar Decathlon went above and beyond the mere zero-energy requirements of the competition to produce architecturally stunning houses that are as beautiful and livable as they are energy efficient. Looking as if they stepped off the pages of a magazine, Germany’s gorgeous Darmstadt House and Colorado’s eye-catching CORE house prove that zero-energy design is simply not just an engineering or economic feat — but a design accomplishment as well.
Inhabitat has been on hand at the mall in Washington DC to take it all in, and we’ve got tons of news to report and pictures to show. To see our photos of the 2 week long event, click here >
And to see our full photo album of the Solar Decathlon, check out our Flickr feed here >
Solar Decathon 2007: The Solar Village
Cincinnati’s colorful house
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a beautiful sauna-like wood house
University of Colorado’s eye-catching house utilized recycled shipping containers and bright colors
Germany’s student team from Darmstadt University produced a lovely design with a solar-shutter exterior envelope
Germany’s Darmstadt University is currently the front runner in the competition
Darmstadt University house was so popular there was constantly a long line to get in
University of Maryland’s green home took second place in the Solar Decathlon competition
MIT’s Solar House
The Kansas Project Solar House employed a cool deck-to-roof wraparound design
One of my personal favorites at the show was University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, because the house was simple and cozy, and seemed more liveable than some of the other designs
University of Texas at Austin - another one of my personal favorites
UT Austin’s eye-catching Solar House employed a translucent polycarbonate facade to let natural daylight into the house. This also allowed the team to explore the use of graphics in the facade, to a surprisingly elegant result 
Team Montreal House - This cute little ‘green’ house covered in plant-growth was my another one of my favorites
Madrid’s colorful house employed a large exterior ‘living wall’
Cincinnati’s House with an electric vehicle being charged by the solar panels
Birdseye view of the Solar Decathlon 2007
For more photos of the Solar Decathlon, check out our Flickr feed here >
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[…] thing that you’ll immediately notice while walking around the solar decathlon event in Washington is how pretty much every house features a sloped roof of some sort. Some, tend to […]