ARCHT507 Adv Studio: Solar Decathlon
May 12–30, 2008

The Solar Decathlon is an international competition sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most innovative and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Over a two year period, student teams led by highly specialized faculty, engage in multiple levels of collaborative research and design, with the final objective to design a 21st century house, powered entirely by the sun. Design becomes the means by which natural solar and wind energy sources are combined with new materials and technologies in order to create a new vision for housing of the future that integrates high technology with environmental sustainability through adaptation, ingenuity and innovation. CCA is proud to be joining forces with Santa Clara University as one of twenty teams selected to compete in the 2009 Solar Decathlon. During the many months leading up to the final event at the National Mall in Washington, DC in the summer of 2009, student teams fund raise, research, plan, design, analyze, fabricate, test and redesign their prototypical solar homes. The aim is to produce the best combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and excellence in engineering, architecture and industrial design. This studio is part of a series of courses that will focus on aspects of the creation of the CCA / Santa Clara University Solar Decathlon competition house.

This is a vertical studio combining students in their fourth and fifth year of architectural studies. The students may choose from a diverse range of options of study proposed by different faculty members. In general the studio options are grounded in a conceptual basis that invites theoretical and/or programmatic innovation. These studio options may vary from year to year.