On January 30th, 2012, the University of Maryland announced that Pepco, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings Inc. (Washington, D.C.), has purchased international-prize-winning solar house "WaterShed", built by UMD students, faculty and professional partners. The high-tech building will be located it at one of Pepco's facilities in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Under the sale agreement, Pepco covered WaterShed's outstanding project costs and will pay for its transport and reassembly. The parties did not disclose the financial terms. Under the arrangement, Pepco and the UMD will partner on its operation, monitor its performance, conduct ongoing research and work closely on designing educational materials about WaterShed.

"In purchasing this home, Pepco is recognizing the hard work, commitment and creativity of the University of Maryland's Solar Decathlon 2011 Team," says the company's Vice President of Business Transformation Karen Lefkowitz. "Their achievement cannot be overstated."


Pepco plans to open WaterShed to the public

The house will serve as a "living classroom" and a "living laboratory" to demonstrate smart, clean energy options. Pepco plans to open WaterShed to the public at one of its Montgomery County facilities, though a final site selection has not yet been made. The plan is to use it for conferences, educational presentations and occasional public tours. It will also serve Pepco as an energy testing facility. University researchers will continue measuring performance of its various systems to assess its long-term operation.

WaterShed is a winner of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon in October 2011. The Maryland team designed WaterShed to help reduce storm water runoff. The house harmonizes modern, traditional and simple building strategies, balancing time-tested best practices and advanced technological solutions to achieve high efficiency performance in an affordable manner, the developed team explains.

2012-02-02| Courtesy: University of Maryland; Photo: Jim Tetro, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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