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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release October 17, 2005 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Press Secretary 202-228-3630 Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary 303-455-7600 |
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| Sen. Salazar
Congratulates CU for Energy Efficient Home Design Washington, DC – At a time when American families are facing skyrocketing home heating costs and wallet gouging gasoline prices, Senator Salazar commended students from the University of Colorado for their energy efficient innovation and repeat victory at the Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. For the second year in a row CU won the Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the Golden-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The event pitted 18 teams from across the United States and around the world in a competition for the best design for a self-sufficient solar home “I commend the ambitious work of these students in envisioning, designing and successfully creating a model for energy-efficient mobile home design. Their achievement stands as a testament to the world-class research and innovation produced at Colorado’s distinguished universities and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It is work like this which will lead our country to greater energy independence and security,” said Senator Salazar. Each team was to create a solar house that generated enough energy to meet all its energy needs including heating and hot water, as well as enough additional energy to charge an electric car. The teams were judged on 10 categories including comfort and livability. CU scored 853 out of a possible 1100 points. Senator Salazar gave a statement on the floor of the United States Senate commending the CU students’ accomplishment. The floor statement is included below. Floor Statement on CU, the 2005 Solar Decathlon Winner Mr. President, it is with great pleasure and pride that I commend the University of Colorado Solar Team on taking overall honors in the 2005 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, DC. With their strong work ethic, vision, creativity and commitment to energy conservation and efficiency, the CU Solar Team has successfully designed, engineered and constructed a national model for an attractive, energy-efficient solar-powered home, while outshining esteemed competitors from such prestigious institutions as Cornell University and the California Polytechnic State University. The 2005 Solar Decathlon was an international competition between 18 competing collegiate teams, sponsored by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, in Golden, Colorado. Participants came from all over the United States, and as far away as Puerto Rico, Canada and Spain. Teams competed in 10 areas, including architecture, livability and comfort, as well as how well the homes provide energy for space heating and cooling, hot water, lighting and appliances. Home designs were also required to produce enough extra energy to power an electric car. The CU Solar Team is a tight-knit group of students and faculty from the colleges of architecture, engineering, and environmental studies. Charged with the task of integrating natural materials and innovative technology into an environmentally conscious, publicly accessible and energy efficient modular home design, architecture students began to “think like engineers” and engineering students were placed in the role of architect. In the end, the team rose to the challenge and successfully achieved an exceptional solar design which included features such as a rooftop photovoltaic system composed of 32 SunPower 200-watt solar panels, and made of building materials such as soy, corn, sunflower and canola. At a time when our nation’s energy policy continues to be heavily dependent on foreign oil and when home heating costs are rising to unbearable levels, I commend the ambitious work of these students in envisioning, designing and successfully creating a model for energy-efficient mobile home design. Their achievement stands as a testament to the world-class research and innovation produced at the University of Colorado, which is one of the nation’s most accomplished research universities. I also want to briefly pay tribute to NREL. It is no exaggeration to say that NREL holds the key to our nation’s long-term energy security. For nearly 30 years, NREL has been at the forefront of alternative energy research and development, and their sponsorship of research projects like the Decathlon helps ensure that our young engineers and scientists have opportunities to channel their education, creativity, and talent towards solving our nation’s energy challenges. The work done by this team
of 14 students at CU Boulder is impressive, important and will help
lead the United States to a future of greater energy independence and
greater security.
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