Vice versa

E-Cube, Team Belgium's Project

On Monday, June 20, Robert Faucher, a top diplomat at the U.S. Embassy to Belgium, attended the launch of the E-Cube, built by students at Ghent University in Belgium.  Mr. Faucher commended the students on their significant achievement promoting green energy and was one of the first to tour the completed E-Cube. 

The Ghent University team will be one of 20 collegiate teams from around the world, and the only team from a European University, to travel to Washington, D.C. in September for the Solar Decathalon.

The Solar Decathalon, a competition held by the U.S. Department of Energy, challenges students to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

The E-Cube, named for its cubic shape, is designed for a young family of four.  It comes disassembled in a do-it-yourself building kit for easy construction, and it is intended to be affordable, of flexible size, and zero-energy.

This project is of great interest to the U.S. Embassy because it shows once again the strong partnership between the U.S. and Belgium.  We are eager to encourage these Belgian students in their successful efforts to promote green energy, efficiency, and eco-friendly housing.  More specifically, this project falls directly in line with the U.S. Government’s green energy initiative, something that is becoming an increasingly important endeavor in today’s world, and an initiative that the U.S. Embassy works hard to promote.

For more information regarding the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Decathalon, or the E-Cube go to:

http://www.energy.gov/ 

http://www.solardecathlon.gov/ 

http://www.solardecathlon.ugent.be/en/