USC heats up for the Solar Decathlon

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has selected a five-student team from the USC School of Architecture to participate in its second Solar Decathlon competition.

The team, led by building science professor Thomas Spiegelhalter, has two years to design, engineer and build a solar-powered two-story building on the USC campus.

The competition’s goal is to encourage designers and builders of the future to start thinking about, and using, environmentally friendly technology for producing clean energy.

The department hopes the competition will also show the average consumer that using a combination of solar energy and energy-efficient building design to eliminate the need for fossil fuel is a viable alternative for home design now.

The department selected 20 university teams from all over the country -- including two from California, USC and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo -- to participate in the competition. The student teams will meet in September 2005 in Washington, D.C., to showcase their projects.