solar decathalon

 Claudia and I recently went to DC to check out what is new in the energy efficient, renewable energy, smart house market and spent two days in many lines getting an overload of inputs. It was great. Some really creative and innovative projects by 20 University teams from a few countries. Most of the porducts were off the shelf though there were a few that "will be out soon."  (http://www.solardecathlon.org/about.cfm )
 The houses were up to 800 sq ft and it is billed as " a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house."
 What we expected and saw were lots of PV panels and solar thermal water heating systems, geothermal and water to water heat pumps as well as computerized system monitors that allowed the user to control the systems from one display monitor . Most homes had a solar orientation along with some unique means to control the light so that it did not overwhelm the small interior space. There were a lot of louvers. There were also a lot of plants and carefully oriented planters both interior and exterior to help with water filtration, air filtration and food production. Some planters doubled as railings and some as visual screens and herb gardens. There was a green roof under one translucent PV array to help cool the panels.
 Some of the unique products were recycled chalkboard as flooring, the return of the trombe wall concept with in south facing window units including  one with clear plastic modular units that are filled by vacuum. These provided thermal mass without having to transport a lot of weight by filling on site. There was a lot of consideration of the shipping consequences which led to a lot of modular building systems.
 There was also a lot of flex space through movable walls, beds and dividing cabinitry that allowed for multi use space and interior and exterior space connection that gave a feeling of expansiveness.   
 There were some windows with aerogel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel) that is a super insulating substance though most were triple pane with argon or krypton gas.
 The wall systems were usually around R40 through use of SIPS panels ( http://www.sips.org/content/about/index.cfm?pageId=7 ) or spray foam such as Icynene. There was also some phase change materials incorporated in walls that is now a commercial porduct.  The Illinois house was the only one that was certified by the US Passive House Institute. http://www.solardecathlon.org/2009/team_illinois.cfm
 There were a lot of high efficiency heat pumps and all houses met their electric demands and then some through their photovoltaic arrays.
 There were an abundance of LED lights and Induction stoves which are new but gaining in the market.
  There was one solar powered popcorn popper and a smart TV (no it wasn't permanently off) that turned itself off when no one was in the room.
 All or nearly all houses had some form of rainwater catchment and reuse.
 The houses felt like they were fitting into an unusual set because of the need to be mobile and to meet the energy demands of the contest. On the other hand they felt like they did not have the same limits of a house to be sold on the market. It provided a great variety of possibilities some more manageable and affordable than others