The Solar House Team at Missouri University of Science and Technology is hosting an open house at the Missouri S&T Solar Village on Saturday, Sept. 29. The public is invited to attend and tour the village’s four solar houses.

The event will be held from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Solar Village, located on 10th Street adjacent to the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building and Allgood-Bailey Stadium. Team members will be on hand to give tours of the four existing solar houses and answer questions about the house that will be construction for the 2013 U.S. Solar Decathlon, to be held in Irvine, Calif., in October 2013.

The team is currently finishing the design of the 2013 house, dubbed “Chameleon House,” and will soon begin construction on a portion of the Missouri S&T Golf Course property, near Innovation Park.

Once complete, the house will be shipped to Irvine, Calif., and reassembled for the Solar Decathlon. Missouri S&T is one of 20 universities chosen for the competition, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. S&T and the University of Kentucky are the only teams from the Midwest. Universities from Canada, the Czech Republic and Austria will also participate. The teams’ houses are judged in 10 categories.

Project manager Emily Vandivert says the S&T team is focusing on its strengths – mainly engineering skills. Vandivert, a senior in architectural engineering from Maryville, Mo., adds that it’s basically going to be a “smart house.”

“We are trying to focus on engineering, emerging efficiencies and adaptable living – with moving parts, including a grid wall, adjustable solar panels and transforming furniture,” says team member Eric Mullis, a junior in computer engineering from St. Louis.

Missouri S&T’s Solar House Team has about 60 student members. Approximately 20 of them will travel to California next year.