Virginia Tech & the Solar Decathlon: What About Us?
by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA 
on 09.10.09
Hot on the heels of the article about Penn State using Ed Begley Jr to earn them brownie points in the Solar Decathlon, Viginia Tech quickly shot back a post. 'What about us?, they said, we're in the National Building Museum in Washington, DC right now. Doesn't that get us any press and kudos for the competition?'
Virginia Tech's entry to the Solar Decathlon is currently on display and open to the public until the competition begins this October. The solar house, titled LUMENHAUS, an 800 square foot zero-energy home, will be on display but students and faculty working on the project will also be making adjustments during this last month - more like a living artwork, if you will. The house is designed to dress itself and you for the seasons and is smart enough to know when to add more light, less light, more heat or less heat. If you can't make it to DC, you can visit the house virtually on theirLUMENHAUS website, which includes pictures, videos and even footage of people living in the house.
The museum will also host an event September 10 at 6:30pm to talk about sustainable design and solar energy. Leaders from the Solar Decathlon, NREL and other green building gurus will be on hand to answer questions and talk about the future of these cutting-edge technologies.
The Solar Decathlon challenges schools to design a house that can produce enough hot water and electricity to run all of the functions of a normal home and the team at the end of the week with the most points wins. In 2005, the Virginia Tech home won fourth overall and first place in best architecture, livability, day lighting and electric lighting. The Virginia Tech team is also one of only two universities invited to attend the Solar Decathlon Europe in Spain, June 2010. :Virginia Tech News :LUMENHAUS
Virginia Tech's entry to the Solar Decathlon is currently on display and open to the public until the competition begins this October. The solar house, titled LUMENHAUS, an 800 square foot zero-energy home, will be on display but students and faculty working on the project will also be making adjustments during this last month - more like a living artwork, if you will. The house is designed to dress itself and you for the seasons and is smart enough to know when to add more light, less light, more heat or less heat. If you can't make it to DC, you can visit the house virtually on theirLUMENHAUS website, which includes pictures, videos and even footage of people living in the house.
The museum will also host an event September 10 at 6:30pm to talk about sustainable design and solar energy. Leaders from the Solar Decathlon, NREL and other green building gurus will be on hand to answer questions and talk about the future of these cutting-edge technologies.
The Solar Decathlon challenges schools to design a house that can produce enough hot water and electricity to run all of the functions of a normal home and the team at the end of the week with the most points wins. In 2005, the Virginia Tech home won fourth overall and first place in best architecture, livability, day lighting and electric lighting. The Virginia Tech team is also one of only two universities invited to attend the Solar Decathlon Europe in Spain, June 2010. :Virginia Tech News :LUMENHAUS
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