Mark Bridges, communications manager: How many people does it take to really make a change? And they say it always starts with one, but when you have those ones coming together to form that one team, to form that one competition, it makes the future happen.

On-screen graphic: Maison Reciprocity. Solar Decathlon Europe. Appalachian State University. Université d’Angers.

Bill Pfleger: Effective density is something that we view to be critical in the development of our home, and we think that the land resource that we have needs to be used more effectively and more sustainably. And, part of that is re-examining how to build dense homes rather than what we traditionally do here in America, which is a stand-alone home. So the reimagined row house emerged is a way to be effectively dense.

Eric Burgoyne: The row house is a very environmentally conscious design and really fits an urban architecture. With its zero lot line clearance and shared walls between units, you’re really going to have an effective use of the land and with that effective use of the land you can then get a 24-hour live/work neighborhood, which is something we’re not so used to in the United States but throughout the world is a common way of sustainable development.

Bryce Oakley: To me the biggest attribute toward sustainability of the row house design will really lend itself toward social sustainability. You think of bringing in people in such a close area, people get to interact much more than they would traditionally, and that really builds a sense of community which really promotes a positive living experience and promotes health.

Francois Thibault: Maison Reciprocity design was really an affordable solution for French, for socializing company.

Bill Pfleger: Maison Reciprocity is comprised of three main building components. First is the chord, or the container for high-performance operations, recirculation and distribution, and this really contains all the guts of the home. It’s the brains and the guts, so all the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are housed within the chord. The second component of the building is the urban shell, or the urban wrapper. This is really what separates the interior environment from the outside. It is what insulates the occupants and keeps them comfortable. And the third and final component is the brise-soleil, and this is really an exterior building skin that helps protect the building, shade the building and also acts as a racking system for our sustainable, renewable energy systems.

Ariel Shockley: Within our house we have a lot of interior (not understandable) spaces so we can expose those mechanical systems and see them working so that the end consumer doesn’t forget this is a living organism, it is a house. I mean it is your home but at the same time it’s functioning like a person would.

Scott Hopkins: Basically six rectangular boxes and they seem like they’re really simple to build. When it comes down to actually building that little box, they have a lot of complex parts, a lot of intricacies that you just don’t see on paper or in virtual reality, so there is a lot of on-the-spot problem solving that takes place when you’re trying to make something perfect.

Michael Germano: The thing that excites me most about this project is the fact that we have the opportunity to change the way people think and view solar power and solar electricity. It can be an elegant and sensible solution to an urban environment.

Shockley: We’re finding a solution to a problem that is up and coming, not a solution to a problem that is here and is already happening.

Jesse Pipes: But the unique aspect of it for me is to be involved in a project that is market ready, that is viable in the real world, that there is going to be a time when we walk down the street and we see this house in its real context and know that a group of students came together and actually made this thing happen.

On-screen graphics: Rethink, Relive, Reimagine, Maison Reciprocity.

On-screen graphic: Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 in France

Narrator: Maison Reciprocity is Team Reciprocity’s entry in Solar Decathlon Europe 2014. Appalachian State University and Université d’Angers partnered together to design and build a cost effective, energy efficient and attractive solar-powered house. It’s our contribution to making a more sustainable tomorrow.

Jamie Russell, faculty advisor: This is a fairly daunting thing, but it is a great honor to be representing not just only Appalachian State University in Watauga County and North Carolina, but really representing the whole country. The area of excellence for Appalachian State is internationalism, becoming well-versed and aware of what’s happening in a global society. The theme, they say, is a world of opportunities for Appalachian students.

Daphne Carriére, Université d’Angers student: For me, it’s first representing our country and our future. It’s another way to think and another way to work and for me to bring that in France to make them improve and change their mind and organize new way to work with new technology.

Francois Thibault, faculty advisor: I think it’s an opportunity to work with a different country to improve their knowledge of different paths. For them, it’s certainly the first time they can realize something very (not understandable).

Mark Bridges, communications manager: Team Reciprocity is a continuation and a highlight of a 30-year partnership in international culture between Appalachian and Angers consisting of students across a variety of competencies coming together in the pursuit of a common goal, and that goal being not only to design and build a house to win this competition but a journey and vision that is Maison Reciprocity.

Scott Hopkins, construction manager: We’re using construction systems that no one on this team is familiar with. They’re not very prominent here in North America, they’re European technologies, so we have a steep learning curve to overcome. But aside from that I think we have a good team in place to address those challenges.

Michael Germano, project architect: The reimagined row house is taking the established row-house theme you can see in most urban centers such as New York, Paris, London and it is re-envisioning it, reimaging it so that it can be adaptable not just for more affluent families but to meet the needs of everybody.

Lukas Burgher, project engineer: Traditionally, brise-soleil means shading device and that’s what we’re using it for predominantly. It can shade the home when needed but also can open up and allow sunlight or passive solar when needed. Basically, the chord is a prefabricated unit and it contains all the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Basically, they can gain structure from each other so the brise-soleil can be supported by the chord structurally and the brise-soleil has the photovoltaics and solar thermal, so those energies are used by the chord to distribute to the house.

Hopkins: CLT is cross-laminated timber, and these are large wooden panels that are assembled by taking layers of wood that are joined together and stacking one layer 90 degrees perpendicular to the first layer in as many layers as you need in that fashion until you have a panel of the desired thickness to carry whatever load it is designed to carry.

I would like for CLTs to at least get a new look at being used here in North America. I think they have potential to enter some construction markets as a very viable solution.

Russell: So, it really, it provides a fun project that get can people interested and excited about doing their best work for something because it’s not just a textbook exercise, it’s real. And that goes across all disciplines.

Bryce Oakley, project manager: The fact that you get to see all these universities taking these homes and taking this technology to the next level to see what the future can be like is an incredible opportunity, and I just feel lucky to be a part of it.