DC government officials have yet to comment on the U.S. Department of Energy making the decision to head west for the 2013 Solar Decathlon. The competition will be held at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California.
“As President Obama made clear in the State of the Union address this week, we need to ensure that the next generation of America’s architects, engineers and entrepreneurs have the hands-on experience and training they need to lead our nation’s clean energy future,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said during a press conference in Albuquerque, NM.. “The Solar Decathlon will unleash the ingenuity, creativity and drive from these talented students to demonstrate new ideas for how families and businesses can reduce energy use and save money with clean energy products and efficient building design.”
For a decade the energy event has been a long stay for the District, and it's departure surprised a couple of residents.
Claire Riddle, who lives in SW near the Navy Yard area, is very surprised. "It's going to be sad to not see these young creative minds at work down on the Mall," she said.
"Last years event didn't feel the same because it wasn't in the National Mall," Walter Dyson said.
Although the event is moving to California,, the District will participate in the activities by having some of the brightest minds from American University, Catholic University, and George Washington University joining together to establish Team Capitol D.C. The 20 new teams are colleges and universities from around the world, and they will begin the two-year process of building solar-powered and highly efficient homes.
On the Department of Energy's website they report, "This venue will provide a stage worthy of displaying the teams’ energy-efficient, solar-powered houses to the world."
The site added, "The Orange County Great Park has tremendous potential to make Solar Decathlon 2013 bigger and better than ever."
The participating colleges and universities from around the world will begin the two-year process of building solar-powered and highly efficient homes.
The 20 new collegiate teams are:
- Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico (Tempe, Ariz., and Albuquerque, N.M.)
- Czech Technical University (Prague, Czech Republic)
- Hampton University and Old Dominion University (Hampton and Norfolk, Va.)
- Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.)
- Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Mo.)
- Norwich University (Northfield, Vt.)
- Queens University, Carleton University, and Algonquin College (Kingston and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
- Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, Calif.)
- Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology (Los Angeles, Calif.)
- Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.)
- Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.)
- The Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and American University (Washington, DC)
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.)
- The University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College (El Paso, Texas)
- University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
- University of Louisville, Ball State University and University of Kentucky (Louisville, Ky.; Muncie, Ind.; and Lexington, Ky.)
- University of Nevada Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nev.)
- University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
- Vienna University of Technology (Vienna, Austria)
- West Virginia University (Morgantown, W. Va.)
Last year it was held in the District at West Potomac Park, adjacent the National Mall, in a compromise with the Interior Department. The Department of the Interior wanted to give the 684-acre mall an extensive makeover. The decision to move the event off the mall was a surprise to many competing. It was a disappointment to many competing in the event because their homes were designed site-specific.
You can learn more by checking out the Solar Decathlon site.
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