LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 19, 2009) − The University of Kentucky's S•KY BLUE House that finished ninth at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition was featured on today's episode of NBC's "Today Show." The news program highlighted houses from four of the 20 competitors, selected from across North America and Europe, that competed Oct. 9-18, on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C .
The "Live Smart Today" segment, "High-tech homes of the future on display," featured houses and students from UK, as well as Team Germany, Team Boston and Rice University. Jeffrey Kellow, a UK agricultural engineering student on UK's team, explains how the house's self-tinted window design allows its inhabitants to utilize a control panel to adapt the house to their needs. Solar energy enthusiasts can check out the news segment here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34038557#34038557. Additionally, the news program's Web site features additional videos of specific team houses at the Solar Decathlon, including a video of the S•KY BLUE House with student Grace Kessler, from the College of Communications and Information Studies. To look at this video, visit http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34016451#34016451.
Kentuckians will have a couple of opportunities to see the S•KY BLUE House in person in the coming year. The house will be placed on the lawn in front of UK's Main Building beginning in December and running through next August. After that, it will be exhibited at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, scheduled to begin Sept. 25, 2010, in Lexington, Ky. The house will serve as the Visitor’s Center and the entry threshold to the Kentucky Experience exhibitions at the events.
UK's S•KY BLUE solar house team was an interdisciplinary group comprised of students, faculty and staff from six colleges and 16 centers and departments within UK. The team was led by two principal investigators, Donald Colliver, professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at the College of Agriculture, and Gregory Luhan, associate dean for research at the College of Design, as well as faculty from the College of Communications and Information Studies and College of Engineering.
For more information on the S•KY BLUE House, visit the team's Web site at www.uky.edu/solarhouse. For more information on the 2009 Solar Decathlon, visit the event's Web site at www.solardecathlon.org.
