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We have a WINNER… of the Solar Decathlon held in Washington, DC each year.  I was browsing around things to do in Boston one weekend and noticed that MIT was doing a local showing of their entry into this competition.  After some research I found out that this competition brings together some of the best schools both in the US and the rest of the world.  The goal is to build an 800sq foot home that is net zero energy, yield zero carbon emissions and being high-tech, offering saving to the owner while being somewhat hip, trendy and modern.   

Net zero energy basically means that this housing unit generates its own renewable energy (solar, wind, etc) on site and is equal to the amount of energy needed by the unit. In some cases, you end up with energy surpluses that you can resell to energy companies. 

In this competition, the goal was to create a house that uses solar power to run everything thing in the house (lights, stove, TV) while having a little extra power to power up an electric car.  A university from Germany took home the prize as Technische Universität Darmstadt beat out U of Maryland and Santa Clara.  MIT placed 14^th.  

Article on Solar Decathlon

Cool Pics of the competition