This past week the Empowerhouse had many visitors.  As the construction team continues to build, Milano students are organizing workshops showing off what we’ve been up to.

One of our visitors was a man who has been dedicated to our project for almost two years who was excited to see the progress we have made on the house – our Civil Engineering consultant Soneil Charles of Cefas, LLC.  He came up from Washington, D.C. last Friday to check out our progress and strategize for the final site when we move to Deanwood after the competition.  Rather than come alone, he brought his whole family on a mini vacation!

After touring the house with his wife, four daughters and son, he was excited about the potential of our project to inspire future generations of designers and engineers. He said that the most exciting thing about visiting and seeing the project was watching his girls’ captivation with the house and the potential in that excitement. Speaking of to the future of progressive building practices, Soneil avered, “If we can expose people early enough with the right kind of information, then we really have a chance of changing the way things are done.”

Not only is the Empowerhouse living on as a real house for a real family, the potential to instill these principles in the youngest generation, our future leaders, is an amazing opportunity to see sustainable practices become normal practices.  The future is looking bright indeed.  Lets cover it with photovoltaics to soak all that energy up!

Photos by Vasilis Kyriacou