Georgia Tech's Solar Decathlon team marked the beginning of its building phase with a groundbreaking of sorts. The team gathered at the Decathlon construction site along with sponsors and supporters to kick off the construction phase of the competition.

"It is kind of exciting and terrifying at the same time because we put a lot of thought into the design, but there are always things you don't think about - especially from a construction perspective," said Jodi Bell-Quinn, a master's student in the Architecture Program.

The construction site is at 575 14th Street, which is on the corner of 14th Street and Hemphill Avenue. The house will be built in the parking lot behind the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) building.

The team won't actually start building for a couple of weeks because it is waiting on materials and supplies, but the evolution of the house is well under way. Students from across campus have been collaborating on the design of the house and learning from each other.

"Working with other majors has been very educational," said Nadine Cafhlan, a fourth-year Architecture student. "Our thought processes are different from one major to the next. This project allows you to see how engineers and architecture students go about finding a solution differently. We all come at it from different angles, but in the end we are striving for the same conclusion."

"Working with engineers brings a new aspect to the design because they think about things we haven't considered before," said Bell-Quinn. "It makes the project more like the real world and I think the more collaboration we have during the process the richer the project will be in the end."

Team members will continue to develop the design and are well under way with their marketing and communication efforts that are part of the competition. Please visit the Solar Decathlon Web site at www.solar.gatech.edu for more information.