More Sun, More Crowds—Just the Way We Like It

October 14, 2007

Another beautiful, sunny day at the Solar Decathlon—we're so fortunate! And, just as we experienced yesterday, thousands and thousands of people came to the Solar Decathlon to see these beautiful, high-performance houses. Pair that with hundreds of college and university students who are proud to show them off, and you've got a winning combination.

So many of our visitors have questions about where they can purchase the items they see in the homes. For those questions, we like to refer people to the Decathlon product directory, which we also encourage Web visitors to use. It's interesting to see that while some of the products used on the Decathlon houses are custom-designed, the great majority of them are available on the market right now.

The Architecture, Market Appeal, and Communications juries finished their visits to the houses today and will soon wrap up their judging. Expect announcements of those placings throughout this next week.

The jurors worked hard (thank you very much) for two long days. We so appreciate the contribution of these consummate professionals. They take time from their extremely busy schedules to interact with the students, who find the encounter an extremely valuable learning experience.

Susan Maxman of SMP Architects, a member of the Architecture Jury, was clearly with impressed with the Solar Decathlon houses, saying they were 100% better than she anticipated. "They don't look nearly as good in the pictures as they do in person," she said.

Click photo to view a larger image.

The visitors who come to the Mall in the morning at the beginning of the tour hours are generally rewarded with shorter lines, as seen here at the University of Cincinnati house.

A member of the Lawrence Institute of Technology team talks to Communications jurors. The students have developed excellent presentation skills, and it shows during this contest.

Posted at 11:38 PM in Daily Journal | Permalink

It would be great to see more photos of the inside of the team houses. Can you encourage them to add such photos to their team pages? So many people will not be able to make it to the Mall, and the renderings just do not capture the feel of the interior spaces.

Posted by: Sarah Kirchen | October 15, 2007 at 08:27 AM

Yes I agree. We drove from charlotte to see the houses, but the lines were so long, we only got to 7 of them. Would love to see photos of mroe interiors

Posted by: Karina Gauthier | October 15, 2007 at 09:07 AM

Saludos al equipo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. Me hubiera gustado darme la vuelta este fin de semana pero tenia visita. Me siento muy orgulloso de ustedes y se que estan haciendo un exelente trabajo. Saludos a Angelica, Elba y al Dr. Fernando Pla aqui desde mi escritorio en Hamilton Sundstrand.

Posted by: Levi L Vargas | October 15, 2007 at 10:08 AM

I noticed that even the Cornell group who formed a green design firm after 2005, shows software renderings of the interior of the 2005 Cornell house instead of real photos. Whether it is a house you are interested in buying, or just want to see the interior of, there's nothing like a REAL photo of it, if you can't be there. I followed the last competition on the web for weeks after, just to see photos or videos of the interiors, and even then some of the teams never offered them.

There are a few more interior shots on Flicker, if you google for "solar decathlon 2007 photos."

I encourage all the teams to do a youtube video as Cornell did in 2005. This work is just too exciting and important for people to miss seeing.

Posted by: Frank Morgan | October 15, 2007 at 01:37 PM

I forgot to mention, CNET had some more photos with blurbs, and there I really liked the article in the Christian Science Monitor.

I think the homes are wonderful this year and I'm hoping PBS or someone will do a TV program that includes home tours and explanations of the technologies.

Posted by: Frank Morgan | October 15, 2007 at 01:49 PM

Congratulations on a wonderful Solar Decathlon! We came from Missouri to support the University of Missouri - Rolla (soon to be Missouri University of Science and Technology) team last weekend and were rewarded with 20 impressive houses. Congratulations to the students, advisors, and organizers!
Go Rolla!!!!!!

Posted by: Corry | October 15, 2007 at 02:41 PM

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