The EMPOWERHOUSE Mission

EMPOWERHOUSE is a community-based approach to building affordable, net-zero housing that addresses all aspects of domestic life. The Empowerhouse team brings together students from Parsons The New School for Design, Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School and Stevens Institute of Technology to design and construct a solar-powered house that will be exhibited on the National Mall as part of the U.S. Department of Energy 2011 Solar Decathlon.

Bringing the Empowerhouse beyond the National Mall, the team is working with community partners, including Habitat for Humanity Washington D.C. and the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, to construct a second house in the D.C. neighborhood of Deanwood. After the Solar Decathlon, the two houses will be joined together to create a two-family home, and will be a model for affordable, net-zero housing that can be replicated around the globe.