Day 1: Solar Decathlon

First time writing in the blog! So on Monday we went on a field trip to the Solar Decathlon. I did not know what to expect at all, and I'm not interested in the whole "going green" concept but I surprisingly found it very interesting and entertaining. Each house was built in a different way that not only made it helpful to the environment, but also conserved space. Something that grabbed my attention in my of the houses was the bedroom. Some houses had the typical bedroom. But many others found a way to put a decent sized bed into a small knook in the house such as above the TV, inside the wall, or even inside a desk! However, even though many of these ideas help the environment and conserve space, it requires much more human energy. For example, if the bed was stored in the wall, it would take much work to set it up every night and fold it back up every morning. This can be a tedious project to do everyday, so this might turn people against the whole idea.
Even though I was amazed at all of the houses, my favorite was The First Light which was the house created by the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Not only was it built to conserve energy, but it was also very livable. The numerous large windows made the house seem very open and full of light. Surprisingly, the bathroom seemed very nice as well. The flooring of the bathroom was just bamboo, and underneath were plants that the excess water drained into. Even though I found this particular house very interesting, I really enjoyed walking through all of the houses and learning about the different ways to help the envirnoment.