So last Thursday evening UL's BeauSoleil team held a bon voyage party to celebrate the completion of their Solar Decathlon entry and imminent departure for DC. I made it out to get a few pictures and see the house for myself.
Probably my favorite part of the house are those slats to the left of the window. The inside area with the window is the kitchen and those slats house an herb garden. Need basil? It's right outside the door in your cute little vertical garden.
The house is designed to embrace the outdoors and create essentially an indoor/outdoor living space.
This side of the roof is covered with solar panels, along with that retractable door cover. The shutters are also a great feature. They are beautiful but functional. They slide to cover the windows in case of bad weather while still adding an accent to the exterior.
And a large solar water heater.
Other features I didn't get great pictures of are the large deck spaces on the front and back of the house. The house itself is 800 square feet, in accordance with Solar Decathlon rules. The interior featured a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom and laundry protrusion (for lack of better word - see right side of second picture.) The inside was very contemporary, yet still warm. Many well-known local artists donated pieces to the house, which along with many touches of UL red, make the house unique and cultural.
All in all, I think the house is great, and I would definitely live in a version of it, larger than 800 square feet, of course.
The team embarks for Washington DC on September 28, so good luck to everyone making the trip!
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