Energy Efficient House, Water Efficient Plants
The Solar Decathlon is designed to call attention to the enormous energy challenge that the world faces as well as empower young people to create solutions to the world’s energy problems. The competition has six main goals: 1) to educate; 2) to raise public awareness about clean energy, energy efficiency, and solar, in particular; 3) to hasten the entrance of solar technology into the marketplace; 4) to foster student collaboration among varying academic disciplines; 5) to promote an integrated approach to new construction; and 6) to demonstrate the potential for Zero Energy Homes, which produce as much energy as the consume.
Here, two Cornell University students work on the landscaping outside of “The Silo House,” which was designed to evoke “the character of a post-agrarian meadow.” The team, which boasts 150 members and the school’s third Solar Decathlon submission, is a true testament to “integrated collaboration” combining the creative geniuses of so many to produce a house consisting of three silos that is a net-zero energy user.
Image Credit: Stefano Paltera from USDOE on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
