by Wes Abney
Staff Writer

The Zero-Energy House, located in the west student parking lot, is slated for completion this spring after nearly a year of construction and student curiousity.

Students at Washington State University designed and started the original construction of the Zero Energy House in 2005. The house was entered in an international solar decathlon competition to demonstrate the possibilities of solar energy technology.

At the begining of the 2006 school year, the Zero Energy House project was relocated to Shoreline Community College as a demonstration and test facility for solar technologies on campus.

"I hope this will be one of the focal points for the state in learning about clean technology," said John Backes, Vice President of Academic Affairs at SCC "This will be good for the community."

Coming into the final stages of construction, the house is begining to take shape from the inside out.

Beyond the solar panels providing alternative energy, the project has been updated and designed to be hyper-energy effecient. There are a multitude of solar panels on the roof that are designed to run of ambient light instead of direct sunlight. The program will be monitoring the individual panels for performance overall effeciency.

With every available inch left covered by windows, there is only one electric light in the whole building.

"Why would you turn on a light?" Backes asked. "All of this is natural energy."

Once completed, the Zero Energy House will provide energy for the city as opposed to drawing energy off the grid. This means that Shoreline Community College will recieve a check each month from the city electrical company for the energy services that the house will provide, making the project profitable. The amount of money that the school will recieve each month has not been detirmined yet, although hopes are high for profitability.

The eventual purpose of the Zero Energy House is to provide an office space for Mike Nelson, the extension agent to Washington State University. The school hopes to focus on building awareness and training students to work in the renewable energy industries.

"This is the future of clean energy," Backes said.