Not to steal any thunder from the U.S. Department of Energy, I applaud them for promoting and continuing the Solar Decathalon despite critical venue issues, but has there been any thought to associating the program with the USGBC Greenbuild Conference? This would not only offer premium exposure to the program, but provide an extreme networking/green industry experience to the students. It would also provide an excellent partnering opportunity for AIA, USGBC, and the DOE, at a time when unity of leading authorities in the sustainability world is paramount.
The Solar Decathalon is too important an event in the lives of these young people to allow it to wither due to disinterest and under-exposure. Just consider what additional experience the students would gain by exposure to a concentrated population of focused sustainability interests, and how the Decathalon could function as a special tour offer for the Conference...
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Teresa Burk Assoc. AIA
Architect / LEED AP BD+C
Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey & Associates, PA
Wichita KS
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