Solar Decathlon

Once in a while, there are events that take place in the world, amongst all the other events of our everyday lives, that change us completely. These events introduce new visions for the future that change both those involved in the making of the event, as well as those who have the privilege of participating in what the event presents to the world. This is unequivocally the case for the Solar Decathlon. The book you have in your hands right now gives access to what I can only refer to as the phenomenal happening called the Solar Decathlon—a gathering every two years of collegiate teams from around the world in competition with one another to create the most innovative and beautifully designed self-sustaining house of the show.

~Sarah Susanka, highly acclaimed architect, bestselling author, and Solar Decathlon juror

The deep change that Solar Decathlon started in architecture and building science lies in the methodology—the competition showcases everything that needs to be done in architecture and design to create adapted living spaces. The brilliant idea is to put together ten contests into one competition to evaluate ideas and concepts through a wide-angled design-build process. Students who have experienced that are transformed. Some of them have testified that they learned more in two years than during all their student life.

~Pascal Rollet, award-winning professor of architecture, faculty advisor for Solar Decathlon teams, and director of SDE 2014