Colleges from around the globe will meet October 9 - 18 in Washington DC to place their entries in competition.  The Decathlon is not a typical race.  It describes the ten areas of competition for which the teams are designing and constructing energy-efficient, solar-powered houses.  Sponsored by the Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, the race will feature the houses, which have been in development for the past two years, on the National Mall while they are judged by a team of international experts from the government and private industries.  The Heartland is well represented, in fact it fields the most entries into the competition.

This year, Missouri is represented by the Show Me Solar team comprised of students from the University of Missouri and Missouri University of Science & Technology.  The two schools are teaming together for the first time.  S & T has fielded three previous entries in the biennial competition while Mizzou, has been brought on board this year to focus on the architectural aspects of the decathlon.

The University of Illinois will compete again and hopes to continue to improve upon past results with their Gable Home. 

Iowa State University is new to the competition but brings new ideas especially in construction management.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will debut its Meltwater house as a representation of its region’s geographical history; able to collect water as well as solar energy.

At the other end of the Heartland, the University of Louisisana-Lafayette’s BeauSoleil Home offers a taste of its region, especially in the kitchen.

S.Ky Blue is the entry from the University of Kentucky that aims to provide insight into the ‘Kentucky vernacular architecture.’

Good luck to all those who have worked hard in making these visions of the future a reality.