Solar Decathlon: Postcards From The Greenest Neighborhood on Earth

The solar decathlon is like some mythical fairy village. The greenest neighborhood on Earth is only visible for a short time each year. Rising from the humid bottomlands of Washington DC’s Tidal Basin, it’s a sort of techno-utopian rebuke to the staid memorials that dot the city. Every one of its 19 homes embodies the net-zero ethos, which dictates that a building produces as much or more energy as it consumes.

These are the homes of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, photographed with Instagram. Every one of them is a sort of off-the-grid space ship capable of eliminating carbon emissions or surviving the collapse of the power grid, depending on your view of the principle challenges of the 21st century.

Some homes in the Decathlon felt a little like they’d been designed to appeal to as broad a market as possible. Nothing wrong with that. Since homes are investments, after all.

With its deeply shaded porch, protruding sunroom and shaded breezeway. The Tidewater Virginia struck a nice balance between something you’d see in a KB Homes catalog. As well, the kind of high-tech prefab that might grace the pages of a design magazine like Dwell.

Furthermore, it’s so energy efficient. Plus its solar panels are so productive. Then the house has enough spare juice to charge up your electric vehicle. All that technology comes with a price, however: $400,000 and up.

Furthermore, the University of Maryland’s effort felt cozy, and no surprise. So rather they didn’t combine two trailers into a single unit, as other teams had done. For they broke theirs into separate homes connected by an overhang. The result is units you can see straight through.

An unconventional exterior and a roomy breezeway made this home feel like one of the roomiest on the lot.

In conclusion, homes in the Decathlon felt a little like they’d been designed to appeal to as broad a market as possible. Nothing wrong with that. I mean  homes are investments, after all.

Finally and with its deeply shaded porch, protruding sunroom and shaded breezeway. The Tidewater Virginia struck a nice balance between something you’d see in a KB Homes catalog and the kind of high-tech prefab that might grace the pages of a design magazine like Dwell.

Mims is a contributor to Good, Technology Review and The Huffington Post, and is a former editor at Scientific American and Grist.org. He tweets @mims.