University of Kentucky's team has been hard at work designing and constructing the S•KY BLUE House that will compete in the United States Department Of Energy's fourth biennial solar decathlon.

Twenty teams from universities worldwide were selected to create and send an 800-square-foot or less solar-powered house, built by students on their home campus, to the National Mall in D.C.

Each team's house will be evaluated in the competition in 10 specific areas: architecture, engineering, market viability, lighting design, communications, comfort, appliances, hot water, energy balance, and home entertainment.

The team behind UK's solar house, the "Blue" Team, is an interdisciplinary group comprised of students, faculty and staff from six colleges and 16 centers and departments within UK.


The team has been led by two principal investigators,David Colliver, professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at the College of Agriculture, and Gregory Luhan, associate dean for research at theCollege of Design, as well as faculty from the College of Communication and Information Studies and College of Engineering.  

S•KY BLUE House, which will compete Oct. 9-18, will be fully ADA-compliant and makes strong reference to the Kentucky vernacular while integrating forward-thinking innovations into its boundaries.

The result is a striking design based upon an open and porous loft concept anchored by the home’s hearth, the kitchen core, and a series of seamlessly integrated outdoor rooms that envelope the house to form an engaged landscape.

For more information on the competition and the S KY Blue House, go to http://www.uky.edu/solarhouse/index2.html