by Zach Mortice
Two houses from (nearly) the same place find the same affordable solutions, but diverge in their expression of sustainability
The solar-powered houses that lined the National Mall for the fourth Solar Decathlon made it clear that the sustainable design movement is becoming more self-assured and sophisticated. The student-designed and built houses used a wide variety of materials (stone, wood, steel, plastic composite) and spatial organizations not seen in past decathlons. Moreover, the solar photovoltaic panels used to power the houses and sell energy back to the grid are better integrated into the designs, while the need for them has been effectively minimized by simple, passive sustainability design features.
