Suitcase Packing and Picture Snapping

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I know it’s normal to only have one big announcement per post, but since they’re interlinked, I figured I’d have to get to them all eventually or risk confusing the crap out of people.

First things first: this weekend I’m heading off to Washington D.C. It’s not for a vacation – it’s actually for the blog.

I’ve been invited to fly to D.C. for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, a collegiate home design competition that challenges teams to build energy-efficient, attractive (and affordable) homes. I’ll be there as a guest blogger as part of the Plastics Make It Possible campaign, where we’ll get to see innovative technologies of all kinds, including those made out of – you guessed it – plastic.

There are 20 teams competing this year, which means I get to tour twenty homes with all sorts of goodies that will make me drool as I imagine them in my totally not energy efficient 30-year-old home.

And the guy giving us this tour? Oh, nobody you know =). Just HGTV’s Brooks Utley.

Holy crap, this is cool.

Paper, or Plastic?

I’ll admit that I’m not really a person who goes green for the sake of the environment. I do things because it costs me less, looks cool, or is fun to use. The whole “green” aspect a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not necessarily the driving force behind my home purchases. But there are millions of consumers out there just like me, which is why I find this competition so interesting. Not only do the competitors have to make innovations that are helpful for the conservation of energy (it is the Department of Energy’s competition after all), but they are also competing to make these products appealing and affordable for the end consumer. So instead of spending $300 to save $4, these teams are asked to help us save money today.

The Plastics Make It Possible campaign is an active partner in the competition, so I’m expecting to see lots of plastic innovations like vinyl windows and solar panels. It makes sense that plastics would be heavily used as part of a way to keep costs down, and its applicability from building materials to kitchen utensils means that I’m probably going to have lots to share with you.

But anywho, back to packing. The teams are already in D.C. and posting pictures up which is making me even more excited. I’ve never been to D.C. before, and who knows what kinds of cool stuff these competitors have come up with. Maybe I’ll even get to play with a few new toys when we do the home tours. Even if we don’t, there’s one new toy I’m bringing with me:

Yeah, buddy – Nikon D3100 in the energy efficient house. Chances are you’ll see a lot of photos taken on (earmuffs, camera aficionados) auto on the day of competition, but I’m doing my damnedest to read through the manual before I get there.

I’m still pinching myself.

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