Good ideas for energy efficiency come up all the time in this day and age. And a newer event is sparking the imagination of students to go beyond what we have today and invent new ways to conserve energy in houses for tomorrow.

Solar Decathlon
Every two years since 2002, the Solar Decathlon takes place in Washington, D.C., at the National Mall. This event invites 20 colleges and universities from all over the world to compete in each designing and building their own solar-powered and energy efficient home. These houses must not only be effective in conserving energy, but be attractive and functional as well, in order to win.

This competition is open to the public, so others outside the schools can see and learn about new ideas for efficient houses. People get to tour the houses and witness the new ideas first hand.

The participants in this event, known as the “Solar Decathletes”, must not only design and build, but come to Washington, D.C. ready to rebuild their house and add it to solar village that is constructed.

They use all the newest technology for keeping their homes efficient and combine that with all the natural remedies that we are already familiar with, such as wind and rain, to bring about a very efficient home.

2007 Winner
A school from Germany won first place this year and drew lines of people waiting to see inside this blue ribbon model. They scored a perfect 100 in the categories of architecture, lighting, and engineering, leaving the judges in these categories very impressed.

Keep an eye on the Solar Decathlon of 2009 and see what the teams will come up with next. You can see more results for this competition at http://www.solardecathlon.org/. The teams have already been selected and you can bet they will continue to go above and beyond your average home.