In an upcoming story MHM will profile another wonderful example of how college students through investigation and experimentation are creating houses that don’t look or act like the house you live in today.

Theses houses are sophisticated, modern, use the latest technologies, and employ sustainable practices that allow you to completely unplug from the country’s electronic grid – or sell back extra power generated by the house.

Architectural programs at colleges across the country have come a long way. An experienced architect revealed in a recent article that on his first day of architectural school the professor passed out pencils and proceeded to demonstrate the proper method of sharpening the then vital instrument.

Today, college students in some cases are designing and building houses that are even more advanced than the largest builders in the country. Students at the University of Arizona recently completed a house guaranteed not to exceed $30 in heating or cooling. In Studio 804 we told you about college students at the University of Kansas who built a modern energy efficient community center as a prototype for rebuilding the entire city of Greensburg after it was destroyed in a recent tornado.

The biennial Solar Decathlon coming up later this year has featured college students from many different schools who have in some cases come up with brand new ways to power the houses they build. We’ll highlight the best from this year’s competition in future stories and slide shows.

In Five In Zero Nine we touched on a small sample of younger architects who are leading the way toward stylish efficient housing. The story is just a sample of some of the better designed houses that are ready to be deployed almost anywhere in the country.

All of these are examples of how a younger generation of architects are increasingly making houses smarter, sustainable, and more functional than houses we’ve been living in during the great (mortgage) housing boom. There is sure to be more to come in the future and HMH will bring you those as they happen.