Solar Decathlon

For three weeks during this month the Department of Energy hosted a competition called the Solar Decathlon. In this competition 20 teams comprised of college and university students were challenged to design and build the most efficient and appealing solar powered house (disappointedly SUNY Albany was not one of the competitors) . The teams had to raise funds to build their houses and also had to work with contractors. After the construction of the houses was complete, the houses were opened for viewing by the public. Personally, I believed that competitions like the Solar Decathlon are what this country needs to motivate the youth to take an interest in whats really happening to this planet and work together to find solutions to problems like finding alternative energy. In addition, these competitions can help make the people who are oblivious (and sometimes ignorant) to ecological issues more aware. While sitting in my Nutrition class last week as my Professor briefly talked about global warming, I overheard a girl sitting behind me ask her friend "what's global warming"? Thinking back, maybe if competitions like the Solar Decathlon were more publicized in schools (or even mandatory) that girl would not have made that comment and I would not have flashed her the "how stupid could you be" look. You can find more information about the solar decathlon and even take virtual tours of the houses here: http://www.solardecathlon.org/2011_rfp.cfm