2007 Solar Decathalon
Today after my dentist appointment, we decided a treat was in order and set out to check out the 2007 Solar Decathalon being held on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The Solar Decathalon has been held several times since we’ve lived in Maryland but this is the first time we’ve actually made it. Solar houses are built by teams of students and they compete in ten contests: architecture, engineering, market viability, communications, comfort zone, appliances, hot water, lighting, energy balance, and getting around (usually electric cars).
It was a beautiful day and sunny. All the houses have to use solar for everything. We didn’t get to look in every house but we did see a few. Of the houses that we got to tour we liked the Team Montreal house and the UMR house.
None of the houses were actually liveable but these two came the closest to being a house that actual people could live in. All of the other houses that we saw seemed to believe that no storage was required for clothing, books, or the other clutter of life (even pared down to House Beautiful levels of nearly empty rooms). One house had a closet about 7 feet high and 2 1/2 wide, most of the others had none at all.
Kitchens were horrible except in the two we liked. Most had kitchens that could reheat frozen dinners or take-out but not to actually cook meals for a couple for a week. Part of the contest is they need to cook a large meal and for one meal you could do it. The appliances were there but if you had a set of dishes (plates, bowls, dessert plate…), silverware, glassware, coffee pot and cups — well you’d fill up 90% of the kitchen cabinets and have no where to store staples like flour, sugar, spices, boxes of this and that, cans of whatever (just think of what you pick up for a month of meals that doesn’t go in the fridge). There was a nice bottom freezer fridge in all the homes we visited.
It has to be remembered that all the houses were designed to meet the contest rules and criteria and thus some design considerations were made that might not have been made if people had to live in it rather than the house being on display. Even as display houses they do show that you don’t have to give up anything to live solar — most homes had a place for an office, full bath, all the usual kitchen appliances and felt open and spacious. For many visiting the houses that may be enough but when I look at a house — I start to think of it as a home and wonder where would you put bookcases, my spinning wheel, my craft supplies, etc. None of the houses seemed like they could actually be homes except for the Montreal and UMR houses. There was another house by the University of Colorado that we liked the appearance of but the line to tour was so long that we couldn’t get near it. But here’s a photo of the outside:
All in all, it was well worth taking the time to visit the mall to see these solar homes. Keep your eyes out for tours of solar homes near you area — we should all be trying to reduce our carbon footprints and these homes do show that you don’t have to rough it to use solar energy, energy efficient appliances, and live comfortably — once the designs switch from winning a contest to using solar and being a home people can live in.