At an event today in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the 20 collegiate teams selected to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 and unveiled the competition's location, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. The 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States and from around the world will now begin a two-year process to build solar-powered, highly energy-efficient homes that combine affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence. Throughout the two-year process, the teams will design, construct, and test their homes before reassembling them at the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition site. As part of the Solar Decathlon, teams compete in ten different categories—ranging from best architecture and engineering to energy production for heating and cooling—while gaining invaluable real-world experience in a growing global industry. [More]

It's that time again. It's "X shopping days until Christmas," you're maybe a touch stressed from trying to get a lot of work done despite holiday parties and shopping trips, and, to top it off, it's cold out.

If you're reading this, you're probably familiar with our Stay Warm Save Money seasonal campaign. We've been sending out energy saving tips for the changing season for years now; we hope you've been able (and willing) to take advantage of that information. [More]

Have you heard of America’s Home Energy Education Challenge? It’s a challenge—designed to get students in grades 3-8 to help their families and communities embrace home energy efficiency.

Launched this year by both the Department of Energy and National Science Teachers Association, the Home Energy Challenge is generating a great response– over 390 schools across the United States have registered. View this map to see which schools are participating in your area. [More]

When it comes to shopping for and comparing energy-efficient appliances and home electronics, look for the ENERGY STAR® and EnergyGuide labels. ENERGY STAR labels appear on appliances and home electronics that meet strict energy efficiency criteria established by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Federal Trade Commission requires EnergyGuide labels on most home appliances, which provide an estimate of the product's energy consumption or energy efficiency. They also show the highest and lowest energy consumption or efficiency estimates of similar appliance models. Appliance manufacturers must produce products that either meet minimum federal energy efficiency standards or that consume no more than the amount of energy than federal standards allow. [More]

If you were in Washington, DC, this past week, you probably heard about or even attended our biannual Solar Decathlon. This event started in 2002—one month after I started working at the Department of Energy, as a matter of fact—and has just completed its fifth iteration. What began as fourteen schools (well, really thirteen, since one never completed the event) building solar-powered pint-size houses on the National Mall has become an international happening; this year, we had teams from China, Belgium, New Zealand, and Canada competing against teams from Maryland (the winner, by the way), New York, New Jersey, TWO teams from Florida, Virginia and more. [More]

Originally posted on the Solar Decathlon website on October 1, 2011. See original post

Appalachian State University won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 People’s Choice Award for its Solar Homestead today. This award gives the public the opportunity to vote for its favorite house. This year, 92,538 votes were cast. The award was announced at a Victory Reception in the solar Village in West Potomac Park—the last official event of Solar Decathlon 2011. [More]