Press: right-click images for higher-res JPEGS. Photos by Kenneth M. Wyner.
How did the LEAF House do? Glad you asked....
2007 Solar Decathlon:
2nd place overall (as the German team won 1st, we finished FIRST among U.S. Schools!)
1st place in the Communications Contest
2nd place in the Architecture, Market Viability, and Lighting Contests (1st place in the Lighting Subjective Contest)
One of seven teams to score a perfect score in the Energy Balance Contest
Solar Decathlon Other or Industry Awards:
Solar Decathlon’s BP People’s Choice Award
ASHRAE: Integration for Renewables for Sustainable Living
NAHB: First Place in the NAHB Marketing Curb Appeal Award
Two more awards!!
Also, on 10/21/07, a totally unrelated award from the PV AIA annual awards program:
Special Award for the “Advancement of the Art and Science of Architecture”
presented by the AIAPV 2007 Design Awards Jury to the 2007 UMD Solar Decathlon Team as designer/constructor and the PVAF as the eventual owner.
Lead professor for the leaf house entered the house in the 2009 AIA Washington DC/Washingtonian Magazine Residential Design Awards program. The house was selected, from 113 entries, to receive one of 13 awards, and was featured in the June, 2009 issue of Washingtonian Magazine.
| From the April 20, 2008 issue of the New York Times Magazine: A New Leaf: The first thing most visitors notice about the LEAFHouse is the interior design: the wall of windows and the spine of skylights; the kitchen with concrete and reclaimed-wood counters that follow the natural contours of the tree; the glowing waterfall encased in the living-room wall. It takes a moment to remember that the house is a test lab of advanced green-design technology. Those skylights support 34 photovoltaic panels that produce 770 kilowatt-hours a month — enough to power the household. That kitchen counter has an induction-cooking surface that runs on electromagnetic energy. The windows are clad in specialized shutters that adjust to the amount of exterior sunlight and help regulate the temperature inside. And the waterfall is a one-of-a-kind liquid desiccant system that uses calcium chloride to remove humidity from the air, mitigating the need for air-conditioning. A team from the University of Maryland created the LEAFHouse for the Department of Energy’s third Solar Decathlon. At last fall’s competition, the 800-square-foot prototype earned second place out of 20 for its ability to run completely off the grid and for its design, inspired by a leaf’s capacity to harvest solar energy. The home offers a glimpse into the future of energy-efficient living — but don’t call it sustainable. “We think that’s an uninspiring buzzword,” says Julie Gabrielli, an architect who served as a faculty adviser. “Nature is abundant. This house is about being lush and beautiful while having a light footprint.” A Web-based program called the Smart House Adaptive Control system, or SHAC, runs things. Created by two computer-engineering students, the Jetsons-like system monitors the house and adjusts the interior environment in sync with the exterior weather. If it’s sunny, SHAC dims the lights. If the extended weather report calls for clouds, SHAC warns you to conserve solar-energy reserves. Empyrean International, which manufactures the prefabricated Dwell Homes, is working with the Maryland team to bring it to market in 2009. |
PVAF Receives $2,500 Grant from IKEA College Park!
 We thank IKEA College Park, 10100 Baltimore Ave., for a $2,500 gift card grant to furnish the LEAF House. Please click the logo above to visit their website. |
| Melanie Hennigan, AIA | $5,000.00 |
| Louviere, Stratton & Yokel, LLC Architects | $5,000.00 |
| The Ward Foundation | $3,000.00 |
| Wilmot / Sanz, Inc. | $2,000.00 |
| AIA Northern Virginia | $1,000.00 |
| Cunningham + Quill Architects, PLLC | $1,000.00 |
| John F. Corkill, Jr., AIA (In memory of Andrew R. Winters, AIA) | $1,000.00 |
| Bruce E. Hutchinson, AIA | $1,000.00 |
| Allen H. Mushinsky, AIA | $1,000.00 |
| Stephen L. Parker, AIA | $1,000.00 |
| Eugene A. Delmar, FAIA | $500.00 |
| Carl Elefante, AIA | $500.00 |
| Lawrence G. & Diane E. Perry, AIA | $500.00 |
| Tom Pe Nyein, AIA | $300.00 |
| Michael Heiserman, AIA | $250.00 |
| James P. K. McGrath, AIA | $250.00 |
| Alan Abrams Design Build | $150.00 |
| Dean Brenneman, AIA | $100.00 |
| Larry Frank, AIA | $100.00 |
| Morgan Keller, Inc. | $100.00 |
| Craig Moloney, AIA | $100.00 |
| Phoenix Land Design, Inc. | $100.00 |
| Jeffrey S. Rubin, AIA | $100.00 |
| Scott E. Wilets, AIA | $100.00 |
| Helen C. Wilkes, AIA | $100.00 |
| Mark D. Woodburn, AIA | $100.00 |
| Horizon Builders, LLC | $50.00 |
| Michael C. Poness, AIA | $50.00 |
| Michael Murphey, AIA | $25.00 |
| Solange T. Hess | $25.00 |