we need to rethink the way that people live, redesigning the traditional family home to be much more sustainable in all aspects.

ohio state’s encore is the university’s second entry into the us department of energy solar decathlon. the team is designing and building a net-zero solar powered home that will travel to washington dc for the competition in september.

osu’s encore strives for spatial efficiency in a 970 square foot, 3-person family home that features 2 bedrooms and an office. the conceptual elements of the house originate at the central core, to which additional sustainable features are connected. living a sustainable lifestyle does not mean giving up the amenities that a family is used to, but it does require rethinking these elements with a focus on thoughtful design and its integration with passive and active systems to conserve and produce energy. this video introduces the architectural concepts behind this prototype for the new sustainable and affordable family home.

you can keep up with us and learn much more about the house, the team, and all of the student designed systems on our website at http://solardecathlon.osu.edu.

looking to keep track of team encore?

for access to the entire archive of ohio state university’s solar decathlon 2011 videos: visit the member page