Why does the Solar Decathlon exist?
To challenge the student competitors – the “Solar Decathletes” – to think in new ways about energy and how it impacts our everyday lives. To provide those students with a way to show and tell the world what they have learned. To push research and development of energy efficiency and energy production technologies. To encourage all of us to act responsibly when making energy choices. The United States uses about 97 quadrillion British Thermal Units (quads) of energy each year. The residential building sector accounts for about 21% (20.1 quads) of that use. About 86% of total annual energy use in the United States comes from burning fossil fuels – coal, oil, and natural gas. There are many simple ways to save energy, and many relatively simple ways to generate energy from renewable sources, such as the sun. Solar energy technologies are clean and significantly reduce pollutant emissions versus other options. And solar energy is renewable, so we can count on that energy source as long as
