Photo Gallery of Homes

(L) This home office area in the Cal Poly house separates the living room and bedroom.
(M) Cal Poly's front entrance features large, south-facing doors and windows. The team installed overhangs to prevent heat gain from the summer sun but that allow in the warmth of the winter sun.
(R) The work areas in the Cal Poly kitchen all have a view through a window.

Back to Top

(L) The Canadian team fashioned a window with solar electric cells and a motif of autumn leaves.
(M) The Canadian team uses operable window shades to control daylighting.
(R) Team Canada's living room featuring plenty of natural daylighting.

Back to Top

(L) The living room of the Colorado team's house features high-performance, north facing windows that provide diffuse light without significant heat gains or losses.
(M) Colorado's kitchen is visible from the living room. Clerestory windows at the roofline allow in natural daylight.
(R) The bedroom in the Colorado house includes a home-office workspace.

Back to Top

(L) The Cornell house is built on a long, east-west axis. From the living room, the kitchen and dining area are visible with the bedroom and bath beyond.
(M) Two energy-efficient lighting strategies at work in the Cornell living room. Windows and doors offer natural daylighting; an electric fixture casts light on to the light-colored ceiling.
(R) Ample storage is built into the north wall of the Cornell home.

Back to Top

(L) The welcoming entryway, which can also serve as a secluded patio, to the Crowder College house.
(M) The Crowder team chose wood from the Pioneer Forest in the Ozarks for much of the cabinetry, trim, and flooring in their home.
(R) The kitchen in the Crowder house features cabinetry and trim made from local wood.

Back to Top

(L) The Florida team's house is approximately one-third hurricane-proof glass.
(M) The Florida team's dining area.
(R) The bedroom "footprint" is a mirror image of the living room "footprint," but furnished differently.

Back to Top

(L) The loft bedroom of the NYIT house is above the living room.
(M) The NYIT kitchen, like all those in Solar Decathlon homes, is small, but not too small for these chefs from the culinary school, who prepared meals for the students.
(R) The living, dining and home-office furniture were designed and built by NYIT students to be multifunctional. This sofa can be used to cool or warm its occupants.

Back to Top

(L) The back, south-facing porch of the Pittsburgh house makes an inviting seating area.
(M) The translucent, north-facing wall of the Pittsburgh house allows diffuse daylight to enter the bedroom space.
(R) The dining, home-office, and living spaces of the Pittsburgh house commune with the outdoor seating area through large, south-facing windows.

Back to Top

(L) The interior of RISD's north wall features custom-made cabinetry and a small home-office space.
(M) Team RISD's roof garden made for lovely outdoor dining on the National Mall with a spectacular view of many of the nation's treasured landmarks.
(R) The south wall of the RISD house opens up completely so that its inhabitants can extend their living area, weather permitting.

Back to Top

(L) The Madrid team's dining area has a view through large south-facing windows.
(M) Team Madrid's living room features windows with solar-electric cells. The whole room can move to reveal an interior patio.
(R) The expanse of south-facing glass on the Madrid house is dramatic during the day and at night.

Back to Top

(L) The Puerto Rico team added a generous deck to the east side of their house.
(M) Puerto Rico's home office workspace looks out on the front entryway.
(R) The living room of the Puerto Rico house opens up to an outdoor deck.

Back to Top

(L) The shared kitchen and dining area of the Maryland house is one half of the open floor plan that includes the living area.
(M) The back of team Maryland's house features two decks—one off the kitchen and one off the bedroom.
(R) A welcome living area greets the visitor when entering team Maryland's home. Clerestory windows above the space provide lighting during the day.

Back to Top

(L) Each Solar Decathlon home had to provide a well-lit work area. UMass placed theirs next to a south-facing window for plenty of natural light.
(M) The living area of the UMass Solar Decathlon home.
(R) The UMass kitchen looks like a typical kitchen, but, of course, it's powered by solar.

Back to Top

(L) This arching window follows the roofline of the Michigan house and provides natural daylighting into the home work and living spaces.
(M) The windows in the Michigan house provide natural light during the day and a lovely view from the outside by night.
(R) Team Michigan's kitchen area features a compact workspace that integrates seating for eating and visiting.

Back to Top

(L) The roof angle of the Missouri-Rolla house optimizes solar energy collection and makes for a dramatic wood-paneled ceiling in the living room.
(M) The kitchen, with its central island, was very popular with visitors to the Missouri-Rolla team's house.
(R) Wood detailing is a theme carried throughout the Missouri-Rolla house, even in the bathroom.

Back to Top

(L) The kitchen and dining area in the Texas house.
(M) The Texas design included plenty of natural light and mesquite (abundant in Texas) wood flooring.
(R) Texas used their solar thermal collectors as an attractive design element.

Back to Top

(L) The kitchen in the Virginia Tech house.
(M) Translucent walls and curved ceiling, which the Architecture jury appreciated, are clearly visible in the Virginia Tech team's living room.
(R) The walls of the Virginia Tech house allow light in during the day and glow with light at night.

Back to Top

(L) The Washington State team's dining table has a view out an east-facing window.
(M) The beams in the Washington State house are made from parallel strand lumber.
(R) Washington State's kitchen.

Back to Top