After the Solar Decathlon competition house designed at Virginia Tech (see Hokie House) created a stir even before being assembled on the national mall later this month, news about another entrant is also leaking out.

Team California, a joint effort by Santa Clara University and California College of the Arts students is getting praise for their Refract House.

Currently on display on the Santa Clara University campus, Refract House is a demonstration of minimalism, practical living, and the latest in technology harnessed into a sustainable living environment. Wary of some past modern energy saving house designs, the CEO of Applied Materials, the team’s top sponsor remarked, “Energy efficient homes don’t need to be funky, they have shown and proven that it can be beautiful and effective.”

This is an important benchmark for modern house designs because few people have actually seen in-person a well crafted, practical, energy sustainable house, being left only with impressions of typical impractical “wow” news getting type houses latched onto by major media outlets.

A great place to start then is by visiting this years Solar Decathlon beginning October 9 on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Read post in Inhabitat.