House of the future

What does the house of the future look like? It could be the dark, squat, angular, 500-square-foot ICON Solar House designed by the University of Minnesota Solar Decathlon team. Twenty university teams from four countries are currently competing in Washington, D.C., for what amounts to a sustainable home championship. The University team’s dwelling, created by 150 students over two years, is awaiting final judgments Friday, with team California in the suspected lead. While comfort and looks matter, efficiency is key. So doing well on Thursday’s “net meter” ratings — the total amount of energy consumed or produced during the competition — is essential.

The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the competition and granted the University’s team $100,000 to develop an attractive and self-sustaining model home in January 2008. Shona Mosites of the University’s Solar Decathlon team said the goal of the project was to “marry the ideas of the traditional home with environmental consciousness.”

When asked how much the project cost, Rose Lin, an officer of the U’s Solar Decathlon team, said, “One million dollars … we don’t know; the president of the University knows.” The University matched the DOE grant and private donors have contributed, but substantial debt remains.

Despite recent D.C. rains, Mosites maintained optimism that the home will be self-sustaining and pay itself off. “We’re not paying for energy right now … we’re probably saving $500 a year.”

Thank you to the University Solar Decathlon team for your leadership and ingenuity. Best of luck to you, and to our future, Friday.