Ohio State Students Send Sustainability Message

With concern for the environment increasing every day, two eco-friendly homes built by engineering and architecture students are being used as community examples of sustainability.

The 2009 house is located at the entrance to the zoo’s new Polar Frontier attraction, a site that will enhance the connection for visitors about the benefits of reducing our carbon footprint and continuing the message that everyday choices can save environments for animals.The Solar Decathlon House, now on display for the public to tour at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, was built in 2009 and finished in the top 10 at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition in Washington, D.C. The house was designed and constructed using materials readily available to the general public. Its compact use of space and multi-functional room design will allow zoo visitors to see the possibilities of a solar-powered sustainable home of the future. Ohio State students also were selected to enter to the competition in 2011; follow their progress online at solardecathlon.osu.edu/.

The Pod’s arrival at COSI marks the beginning of a series of energy and environment exhibits that aim to teach children how science can produce sustainable energy.Like the Solar Decathlon House, the Pod Home, now on exhibit at the Center of Science and Industry’s Big Science Park in Columbus, was constructed from readily available local materials. Students created it to be an example of an energy-efficient, inexpensive, sustainable 125-square-foot home for one to two people.

On the Web:

Read more about the Solar Decathlon house at the zoo: engineering.osu.edu/news/?p=1515 Read more about the Pod at COSI: http://engineering.osu.edu/news/?p=1505