Penn State solar-powered home gets new life at Bayer MaterialScience

(PhysOrg.com) -- Natural Fusion, the solar-powered home designed and constructed by a student-led Penn State team for the 2009 Solar Decathlon, will be dedicated and commissioned Wednesday (May 26) by Bayer MaterialScience LLC as its new EcoCommercial Building Conference Center at the company's campus in Robinson Township, Pa.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon is a biannual competition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., among 20 international universities that compete to build the most effective, energy-efficient solar-powered house. For details about Penn State's Natural Fusion entry in the competition visit live.psu.edu/story/41735 and www.naturalfusion.org/ .

For a video about Natural Fusion's design and construction, see part one here and part two here.

Government officials, Penn State representatives and EcoCommercial Building collaborators are expected to attend the dedication event.

In its new capacity, this solar-powered, zero-emission building will serve as an energy modeling site, educational center and showcase for Bayer MaterialScience's EcoCommercial Building materials solutions.

Bayer MaterialScience is one of North America's leading producers of high-performance plastics and polymers is part of the global Bayer MaterialScience business. The company contributed to the construction of Natural Fusion and helped to review its initial designs.

Provided by Penn State