LEAFHouse in the Lead

A home inspired by "the simple, yet vastly complex leaf," is currently in the lead in the Solar Decathlon, a biannual competition for college and university students to design and build solar-powered homes. The University of Maryland's LEAFHouse (shown) and 19 other entries are on display to the public on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., through Saturday. The winning team will be announced at an awards ceremony tomorrow afternoon.

UPDATE (10/19/07): The team from Germany's Technische Universität Darmstadt ended up besting the University of Maryland for first place. Congratulations to all the winners!

(Photograph by Jim Tetro, Solar Decathlon)