Nineteen participants in the fifth biennial Solar Decathlon contest in September came to Washington, DC, from as far away as China and New Zealand to showcase their designs for super-efficient homes. Academic teams assembled the fully furnished houses in a muddy park in a matter of days and then carted them away after the 10-day event. Participants were graded on everything from their architecture and engineering to how well the teams could put on a dinner party for eight in their homes. First place overall went to the University of Maryland’s entry, WaterShed, which incorporates an artificial wetland for recycling gray water from sinks and appliances for irrigation, thereby saving potable water. WaterShed’s other features include a saline liquid dessicant to control humidity and reduce the cooling load on heat pumps, a green roof, and a solar thermal water heater that can also provide supplementary heating.
One new criterion this...
