Empowerhouse: Parsons NS Stevens + Solar Decathlon 2011

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than a year since Empowerhouse was in the Solar Decathlon (where it won the competition’s first Affordability contest). Now, after several years of hard work by the Empowerhouse team and our partners, this project...

empowerhouse with washington monument in background. photo: nicole de feo
DOE affordability juried contests have been announced, and Empowerhouse has swept the competition with a final cost estimate of $229,890.26. We are sharing first place with Purdue, although their estimate came in roughly $20,000 more than ours. This...

As new students of the Solar Decathlon Class, we left New York toting backpacks, metro maps and our eagerness to finally see the EmpowerHouse one step closer to its permanent residence in Deanwood, Washington, D.C.
As we trekked across the grass and gray walkways of West Potomac Park, we finally reached the rows of futuristic houses that make up the Solar Decathlon competition. Lines of people ribboned around the houses waiting to see what sustainable curiosities...

As a new student joining the Empowerhouse project, I am excited by the opportunity to help this house truly live up to its name: ‘Empower’. We are working to empower not only the soon-to-be residents of the house as self-reliant homeowners, but also...