IRVINE, CA-GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively that commercial builder Bernards is sponsoring two Southern California collegiate teams for the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013, an open-to-the-public event that will take place for the first time on the West Coast on October 3-13 at Orange County Great Park here. The event challenges collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy-efficient and aesthetically pleasing.

The two teams Bernards is sponsoring are the University of Southern California and the Southern California Institute of Architecture/CalTech. Selected teams come from 20 universities across the nation, as well as from Canada, Austria and the Czech Republic. Other competing California universities include Stanford and Santa Clara. According to Steve Pellegren, VP of preconstruction services for Bernards, “We believe that both of our teams have an exceptional chance of ending up in the winner's circle. Our project and LEED professionals are making themselves available to support the student teams.”

The goal of the Solar Decathlon is to educate both the participating students and the general public about the cost-saving opportunities and environmental benefits provided by the energy-efficient solutions, clean-energy products and design solutions available today. Prototypes created by the teams must demonstrate that energy-efficient construction and appliances, combined with renewable energy systems that are available today, can provide both creature comfort and affordability.

The winner will be the team that best blends optimal energy production and maximum efficiency, design excellence, affordability and consumer appeal. Sponsors work directly with individual collegiate teams to support them with in-kind donations, cash contributions and material resources.

“The green-building market continues to grow in California, and improvements in energy efficiency are integral to both new construction and renovation projects,” said Rick Fochtman, Bernards' director of sustainability, in a prepared statement. “This trend will accelerate as California promotes its ambitious goal to make all new construction Net Zero Energy over the next 20 years.”

NZE status requires that buildings generate as much energy as they consume, without creating a carbon footprint. The state aims to attain statewide NZE status for all new residential buildings by 2020 and commercial buildings by 2030—a far-reaching goal.

SCI-Arc/CalTech's team, which took sixth place in the Solar Decathlon in 2011, will unveil DALE, the Dynamic Augmented Living Environment, at this year's competition. The team aims to produce a prototype that both resolves the need for energy efficiency and presents an architectural model for the future.

USC's entry, the fluxHome, is an interdisciplinary project of collaborative teamwork by students in the USC School of Architecture, Viterbi School of Engineering, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, School of Cinematic Arts, Rossier School of Education, Marshall School of Business and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Their aim is to create a truly accessible prototype model for energy-independent, low-cost housing that can be rapidly deployed and reflects the best qualities of indoor-outdoor living in Southern California. After the Decathlon, the fluxHome will be donated to a local family in the University Park Neighborhood, which is home to the USC campus.

“Research and lessons learned from this project will be carried by these students' work in the coming decades,” said Stephen Collins, project engineer for the Solar Decathlon team, who established the growing USC Solar Decathlon Club.