Solar Decathlon: Great Impact with Less Impact.

Every two years, 20 architecture, design and building teams descend on the Mall in Washington DC to display new concepts of solar-powered homes in the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the US Department of Energy.

The purpose of the event is really to raise awareness and to raise the bar of inspiration and innovation around building Zero Energy Homes. No matter where you land on the issues regarding climate change, from a truly pragmatic perspective, I think there are a number of things we can all agree on:

Getting energy from completely natural sources is a good thing. The cost of the wind and the sun is free. Harnessing its power is the only expense to figure out.
Fossil fuels are dirty. Visit Los Angeles and notice the brown haze that sits on the horizon or try to see farther than a mile or two in Linfin, China. The damage is from fossil fuels plain and simple and it’s just not that pretty to look at.
As the world gets more polluted, any good capitalist can see a huge market for greener technology. The green economy will be the building blocks of the economy over the next half century as fossil fuels dry up and governments mandate energy sources that rely on electricity from increasingly natural sources.

So check out some of the great buildings than are having a huge impact by having less impact.