EVENT: Councilman Brewster McCracken will read a mayoral proclamation citing Sept. 17 as "SolarD Day" at the ribbon cutting and unveiling of the 800-square-foot, solar-powered house designed and built by students at The University of Texas at Austin for the 2007 Solar Decathlon competition held at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in October.
WHEN: Monday, Sept. 17, beginning with opening comments at 7 p.m., followed by a reading of the proclamation. Alex Miller, project manager of SolarD, will describe the design features and unique technology used to create the house. Tours of the house and interviews will follow.
WHERE: Robert Mueller Airport Redevelopment Site, 1801 E. 51st St., Texas Flag Hangar
BACKGROUND: The U.S. Department of Energy selected 20 teams to compete in the 2007 Solar Decathlon, taking place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Oct. 12-20. The teams, made up of student volunteers from colleges and universities around the globe, spent a year planning, designing and building houses that rely entirely on solar-generated energy. Each entry is judged on 10 contests, including style, innovation and efficiency. The University of Texas at Austin Solar Decathlon Team (UTsolarD) is a collaborative research group of more than 30 students and faculty from architecture, interior design, landscape, fine arts, advertising, engineering and business disciplines. During the year, dozens of additional student volunteers from across the campus assisted the team in the house-building process. The project is directed through The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and its Center for Sustainable Development. The Solar Decathlon is a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in partnership with its National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
