A student team from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts (VCUarts), led by Interior Design Assistant Professor Laura Battaglia, is designing an affordable Net-Zero energy home to support the development of a new urban agrihood in Petersburg, Virginia. The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon (now called BuildingsNext) and highlights the power of interdisciplinary, community-engaged design.
The VCUarts Solar Decathlon Team has been actively sharing their work at both national and local venues, including the Getting to Zero Forum in Los Angeles, the BuildingsNEXT Showcase in Colorado, VCU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, and the VCU Engineering Capstone Expo.
The team will soon begin the next phase of the project—developing and building a prototype home in partnership with Happily Natural Day, a community-based organization committed to urban agriculture and environmental justice in Petersburg.
“This project gives students an incredible opportunity to engage in real-world, high-impact design that directly benefits our region,” said Professor Battaglia. “The collaboration with Happily Natural Day reinforces our commitment to socially responsible and sustainable design practices.”
Contributors include:
- Presentation Team: Tiffani Vasco (Wilder School), Lily Corbin (Interior Design), Mehak Chopra (Engineering)
- Solar Decathlon Class Members: Bin Giang, Sophie Myers, Chevelle Baldwin, Stasia Torres-Lara (all Interior Design), Kiera O’Harrow (Sculpture)
- Independent Study Students: Asmita Baskar, Van Vox (both Interior Design Masters studies)
The VCUarts Solar Decathlon Team represents a powerful model for interdisciplinary collaboration, combining architecture, design, policy, and engineering to address pressing housing and sustainability challenges.