Tonight, we had the honor of performing on the national mall, sandwiched between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. We played for students from 20 Universities, including Cornell, LSU, & Santa Clara, as well as International representation from Spain, Germany, and Puerto Rico. Each team was challenged to build a single family home that was completely solar powered. Somehow I was under the impression that the solar decathlon was made up of “model” houses.  I had visualized somewhat of a glorified 8th grade science fair complete with foam board presentations and posters portraying the theoretical benefits of a solar powered future - some of which I was sure would be illustrated with elbow macaroni and Elmer’s glue.  My skepticism was dashed however when I learned that the Decathlon is in fact made up of 20 FULL SIZE single bedroom homes that will be lived in during the coming week. Each house is completely solar powered and includes running hot water, heating and AC. But these aren’t concrete shoeboxes that happen to be solar powered, they are homes designed to within an inch of their lives. Not only do these houses produce more energy (naturally) than they consume, but they are for lack of a better term, freakin’ sexy. 

For the first time in my life I found my dream house - sleek, modern, self-sustaining, and with a water feature to die for. I was ready to make a down payment at 5% when I saw what could only be described as my dreamier house. Bold, cutting edge, with an agricultural setup that guaranteed fresh produce for the rest of your life. This scenario was played out 18 more times over the course of the evening, as each house seemed more spectacular than the last. What these students have accomplished is nothing short of awe inspiring and to get to play music and try to entertain them while they put the finishing touches on their remarkable creations was a privilege and a pleasure.  If these are the architects engineers and designers of tomorrow, the future is going to be brighter than you can imagine. 

Greetings from the road,

Warren