University Teams to Showcase Affordable, Energy Efficient Living in U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011

Global Competition Begins at National Mall’s West Potomac Park

WASHINGTON, DC – Collegiate teams featuring over 4,000 students from around the world have descended on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park to showcase the highly energy efficient solar-powered houses they created for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011. Today’s opening ceremony kicks off the biennial competition that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate houses powered by the sun that are affordable, energy efficient, attractive, and easy to live in.

“The Solar Decathlon collegiate teams are showing how clean energy products and efficient building design can help families and businesses reduce energy use and save money,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “The event challenges talented students to become pioneers of clean energy technology and helps ensure that our nation remains competitive in the workforce of tomorrow.”

In addition to educating the public about how to save energy and save money, the Solar Decathlon also provides unique training to the next generation of engineers and architects. Over the last decade, the competition has prepared approximately 15,000 students to become future innovators and entrepreneurs in clean energy technology and efficient building design.

“This award-winning competition engages students from across the nation, and around the world, to develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the clean energy workforce,” said Arun Majumdar, Senior Advisor to Secretary Chu, while surrounded by hundreds of students and VIPs at the event’s opening ceremony. “These collegiate teams are demonstrating the talent and ingenuity required to expand our nation’s clean energy economy and keep America competitive in the race to solve our global energy challenges.”

Student teams in the 2011 competition hail from five countries across four continents, including the United States, Belgium, Canada, China and New Zealand. The competition involves 10 contests during 10 days that gauge each house’s performance, livability and affordability. New this year, an affordability contest rewards teams that build houses with estimated costs at or below $250,000. The teams will have to perform everyday tasks, including cooking, laundry, and washing dishes, to test the energy efficiency of their houses. The winner of the overall competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

Thousands are expected to visit the houses, which will be open to the public free of charge from Friday, September 23, through Sunday, October 2. The houses are open from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm on weekends, and 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on weekdays. Visitors are able to tour the houses, gather ideas to use in their own homes, and learn how energy-saving features can help them save money today. The overall winner will be announced on Saturday, October 1. This Solar Decathlon is the fifth such competition since 2002.

This year’s university-led teams were chosen nearly two years ago through a competitive process. The selected teams and their projects represent a diverse range of design approaches, building technologies, and geographic locations, climates and regions – including urban, suburban and rural settings. They also aim to reach a broad range of target housing markets, including lower-income, disaster relief, retirement, and single family. Teams have gathered their combined interdisciplinary talents to design and build the houses, as well as to raise funds, furnish and decorate the houses, and optimize the houses’ performance.

Solar Decathlon 2011 teams competing on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park

· Appalachian State University

· Canada (University of Calgary)

· Florida International University

· University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

· University of Maryland

· Middlebury College

· New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington)

· The Ohio State University

· Parsons NS Stevens (Parsons The New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology, a team that also includes Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School)

· Purdue University

· The Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology

· Team Belgium (Ghent University)

· Team China (Tongji University)

· Team Florida (The University of South Florida, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida)

· Team Massachusetts (Massachusetts College of Art and Design and University of Massachusetts at Lowell)

· Team New Jersey (Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology)

· Team New York (The City College of New York)

· The University of Tennessee

· Tidewater Virginia (Old Dominion University