This is our Zero Energy House, this is the prototype. We're actually scaling up and changing
things slightly for the Solar Decathlon. As the name implies, the Solar Decathlon
is a series of ten events that basically gauge the performance of a small, completely
off the grid, solar-powered home. So what that means for the students is they must
design and then actually build, ship to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and
reassemble a 1000 square foot house.
What we have built is basically a test box. So if you think about
about this in the most basic terms, we've created an armature by which we can test
all the systems we plan on using in a full-size Solar Decathlon project. We're looking at these
technological systems and these systems of architecture and we're building them on a smaller
scale so we can apply that knowledge to a much bigger project.
I feel really good about our proposal. And I think we have a fantastic
support team; our university is supporting us fantastically. I can't think about any
more support. So I think we have all the key players on board and
all the excitement we need to be really successful.