U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans AffairsCommittees

2300 15

Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

For Immediate ReleaseOctober 17, 2005

CONTACT:

Cody Wertz – PressSecretary202-228-3630Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary303-455-7600

Sen. Salazar Congratulates CU for Energy EfficientHome Design

Win Means More in Times of Rising Home Heating Costs

Washington, DC – At a time when American families are facing skyrocketing homeheating costs and wallet gouging gasoline prices, Senator Salazar commended studentsfrom the University of Colorado for their energy efficient innovation and repeat victory atthe Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. For the second year in a row CU won the Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the Golden-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Theevent pitted 18 teams from across the United States and around the world in acompetition for the best design for a self-sufficient solar home“I commend the ambitious work of these students in envisioning, designing andsuccessfully creating a model for energy-efficient mobile home design. Their achievement stands as a testament to the world-class research and innovation produced atColorado’s distinguished universities and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Itis work like this which will lead our country to greater energy independence andsecurity,” said Senator Salazar.Each team was to create a solar house that generated enough energy to meet all its energyneeds including heating and hot water, as well as enough additional energy to charge anelectric car. The teams were judged on 10 categories including comfort and livability. CUscored 853 out of a possible 1100 points.Senator Salazar gave a statement on the floor of the United States Senate commendingthe CU students’ accomplishment. The floor statement is included below.Floor Statement on CU, the 2005 Solar Decathlon Winner Mr. President, it is with great pleasure and pride that I commend the University of Colorado Solar Team on taking overall honors in the 2005 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, DC. With their strong work ethic, vision, creativity andcommitment to energy conservation and efficiency, the CU Solar Team has successfullydesigned, engineered and constructed a national model for an attractive, energy-efficient