Bring Your Designs To Life!
Have you been musing with the idea of constructing sustainable buildings? Luckily, Santa Clara University has experience competing in just that!
BuildingsNEXT
Formally known as the Solar Decathlon, this national competition has been entered three times by SCU students and even won in 2007!
This collegiate competition is to prepares the next generation of building professionals to design high-performance buildings powered by renewables.
The competition has challenged more than 25,000 students to create efficient, affordable buildings powered by renewables, while promoting student innovation, STEM education, and workforce development opportunities in the buildings industry.
You can learn more about entering this competition at the official BuildingsNEXT website.
Past Entries
Radiant House was guided by the belief that sustainable living can be affordable, appealing, and accessible to everyone. With an open floor plan and ramps leading to and from the house, Radiant House is fully accessible and features spacious rooms and an adaptable floor plan and furnishings.
Sadly, due to space constraints, Radiant House was unable to join its predecessors on campus.
You can learn more about Radiant House with additional design images on the team's submission page on BuildingsNEXT.
Placing 3rd in the national competition, Refract House is now located between the library and the Malley Fitness & Recreation Center. Although the house is not actively used, you can still stroll around the outside and porch of the house and it proudly emphasizes the determination of SCU students for a better future.
You can learn more in-depth information about the house from the building team's website Refract House or from their submission page on BuildingsNext.
Now named the Solar House, this award winning structure can still be visited in the Forge Garden; however, it has been mostly reassembled to fit in the garden. The addition of the carbon neutral structure allowed the center to finally have an onsite bathroom!
You can learn more about the Ripple house on The Garden Forge Self Guided Tour under the Solar House Tab or on the team's submission page on BuildingsNEXT.