Question 14 - Solar Decathlon vs. H.O.F.

The Solar Decathlon Competition is a competition setup by the Department of Energy where Schools of Architecture and Engineering design and build houses that produce all the energy they use (net zero energy). http://www.solardecathlon.org/

The competition strive for livable attractive designs of zero energy use housing, where the goals are to explore the energy efficiency, environmental impact, and energy sources to the extreme. The competition houses are sent to Washington D.C. where they make a solar village. The entries are open to the public in an outdoor museum style.

The competition and entries draw many similarities to Smithson's "House of the Future", exhibited in 1956, where it tried to imagine the house design of 1981. The Solar Decathlon motives are to cause students to think about the energy challenges that all people will face in the future. The solar house is a design that would fit this energy challenging future, made from cutting edge design techniques and materials. "The Solar Decathlon shows us what is possible today and points the way to a brighter future." -Steven Chu - Secretary of Energy

Rice University created the ZeRow house in the 2009 Competition that took a row house approach and is designed to be an affordable net zero energy use house. (http://www.solardecathlon.org/2009/team_rice.cfm) The idea was to make a house that the average person could afford, and keep it on a tight budget.

Like the H.O.F the ZeROW House is designed for mass production, transportation by truck, and to be put into tight neighborhoods. The H.O.F thought of all these aspects as important to the future, the ZeROW house team also felt mass production is important by making an affordable house. The transportation was required on their design due to the nature of the competition and having to transport it from Houston to Washington DC. As for the house design, it is designed to be placed in the 5th ward of Houston and donated to a poor family. The Row house design is perfect for the tight fit and integration into the neighborhood.

While the HOF showcases the use of new materials like plastics and designs like modern curves, the ZeRow House exhibits energy cheap and sustainable designs. The house showcases 'cores', the wet core and light core. The cores are the systems needed for the house to operate. The home is designed as a whole system, and the demonstration is the result of the whole house design concept.

As a design piece, both houses were only displayed for 3 weeks and then left the museum community. The ZeRow house is in practicle use, and the whereabouts of the HOF is unknown. The designs are made in a particular way because of this aspect. They are made with great detail to work to one goal. To showcase it at an event. The showcase has a theme and the design is tailored to that moment and theme. This leads to a very specific non universal design. Colomino stated "How do we look-back on a forward looking house?", but I think it is more appropriate to ask How do we look at a house designed for a particular exhibit or competition?