Best in show

Building Products, March-April, 2006 by Nigel F. Maynard

Although the University of Colorado won the overall competition, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University took first place in the architecture category. "Everything about this house is wonderful," says renowned architect Sarah Susanka, one of the judges. "It took my breath away."

Virginia Tech designed the roughly 800-square-foot house to use operable windows and shading devices rather than mechanical equipment for heating, cooling, and lighting. As such, the south, east, and west walls were constructed of translucent polycarbonate panels filled with aerogel insulation. Clerestory windows permit daylight, while movable dampers in the walls bring in fresh air.

Motorized shades adjust temperature in the wall cavity during the day and provide visual privacy at night. A stressed-skin inverted roof conceals the solar panels and drains rain into a cistern for gray water use.

California Polytechnic State University, which placed second in this category, designed its house with structural insulated panels and colored fiber-resin cladding. Architecture student Nicholas Holmes says the team kept the structure narrow for easy transport and added the solar panels, awnings, and rooftop deck on site. The judges called the exterior "beautiful" and the interior "elegant."