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A Sunny Penthouse for NYC

September 30th, 2011 · Comments Off on A Sunny Penthouse for NYC

One of the nation’s most important (and sadly too little discussed) intercollegiate competitions is nearing its conclusion in Washington, DC: the biennial Solar Decathlon.  19 University teams from around the globe are competing in 10 (hint, ‘decathlon) arenas to determine the overall winner. Lost amid, perhaps, the fanfare is that every single one of the […]

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Tags: Energy · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

Killing or Creating The Future: Solar’s three act drama on the Mall

September 28th, 2011 · Comments Off on Killing or Creating The Future: Solar’s three act drama on the Mall

A drama is playing out at two ends of the National Mall … with a question mark between them. One act is receiving massive news attention while the intermission and other act rests in obscurity for most Americans. The center piece, almost like an intermission, is uncertain and perhaps cloudy about the finale. One act […]

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Tags: Energy · political symbols · politics · President Barack Obama · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

Making an ICON-ic statement about a better tomorrow?

October 7th, 2009 · 8 Comments

The University of Minnesota’s Solar Decathlon team‘s handout to visitors to the DOE Solar Decathlon, which opens Thursday on the Mall in Washington, DC, (which I had a chance to visit earlier today) is subtitled “A New Tradition”. Their ICON Solar House hopefully is just that, a representation and sign of “a new tradition” that […]

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Tags: eco-friendly · Energy · energy cool · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

An Illuminating Vision for Pavilion Living: VT’s Lumenhaus

October 7th, 2009 · 8 Comments

Imagine the environmentally conscious socialite and their new cottage at the Hamptons. That is the feel that Virginia Tech’s Lumenhaus gives in their, quite simply, luminous website and presentation of their entry into the  DOE Solar Decathlon, which opens Thursday on the Mall in Washington, DC, and which I had a chance to visit earlier […]

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Tags: Energy · energy cool · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

Penn State’s Natural Fusion

October 6th, 2009 · 6 Comments

No, we’re not speaking about Cold Fusion, but Penn State’s entry into the DOE Solar Decathlon, which opens Friday on the Mall in Washington, DC.  Let’s take a look at some of Natural Fusion’s features from its website, which is dynamic, enabling rapid connection of concepts and approaches with the home’s physical layout.

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Tags: Energy · energy cool · energy smart · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

A quick cheat sheet to Solar Decathlon stars

October 5th, 2009 · 10 Comments

Simply put, it is hard to exaggerate the reasons for enthusiasm about the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. This is a truly Energy COOL ten day period in DC, with literally 100s (1000s?) of truly impressive people from universities around the world having a chance to show off their innovative approaches to solving real problems […]

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Tags: Energy · energy cool · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

Racing for the Sun: Energy COOL Solar Decathlon going back to the Mall

September 25th, 2009 · 6 Comments

Being an EcoGeek is becoming ever more fashionable. And, increasingly, there are events where EcoGeek’s can gather in style. Every two years, for two weeks, a village appears on the National Mall providing a window on possibilities for a sustainable future powered by the sun. The Solar Decathlon is a biennial, ever-cool event, pitting colleges […]

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Tags: energy cool · renewable energy · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

Greenwalling: A Solar Decathlon report

October 18th, 2007 · 2 Comments

Green Roofs are becoming blase, perhaps, as design moves into living walls.  A number of the Solar Decathlon teams have incorporated some form of living wall, think garden on the walls of the house.  These walls help cool the house in the summer (reducing solar gain), water management (reduced storm water runoff as they take water […]

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Tags: solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy

Ice from the sun? Solar Decathlon report

October 18th, 2007 · 3 Comments

One team will be named the “winner” at the Solar Decathlon.  The first two times, the University of Colorado team has claimed the honors.  At the moment, this favorite is far behind and the odds aren’t looking so hot that they will get a hat trip.  Yet … yet … this helps highlight how every […]

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Tags: solar · solar decathlon

Home Decoration as Innovative Energy Option: A Report from the Solar Decathlon

October 17th, 2007 · 3 Comments

Well, the Decathlon is underway, with 20 innovative teams fighting for victory as the best solar home to grace the Mall in Washington, DC.  Today, the first event was judged.  The Germans (Darmstadt) are leading the pack, with 209.206 points.  Far, far behind them, in second place, the University of Maryland with 208.872 points.  (e.g., […]

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Tags: architecture · energy efficiency · solar · solar decathlon · Solar Energy