Skip Menu

Return to Skip Menu

Main Content

Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus

The team behind Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus has been awarded a 2012 AIA Honor Award for Architecture from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The award is considered among the highest accolades given to practicing architects and marks the first time a university team has been given the honor.
   

Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus appears on display in Chicago's Millennium Park as part of GreenBuild 2010, which is billed as the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green buildings. Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus appears on display in Chicago's Millennium Park as part of GreenBuild 2010, which is billed as the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green buildings.

A team of faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students spanning four colleges — the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, the College of Engineering, the Pamplin College of Business, and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences — created Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus. The solar house won a 2012 AIA Honor Award for Architecture and the international Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, Spain, in the summer of 2010.

At the Solar Decathlon, the house was inspected in different categories each day. The solar house -- designed and originally constructed on the Blacksburg campus -- was declared the most efficient structure in the decathlon.

During the competition, 17 solar houses from seven countries on three continents were judged in 10 different categories. Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus placed in almost all the categories, including tying for first in Architecture, placing second in Communication and Social Awareness, and placing third in both Industrialization and Market Viability and in Lighting.