The Florida International University entry.

Scale models of the innovative collegiate entries in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 competition to build solar-powered, energy-efficient — and attractive — houses will be on display at the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Orlando.

Show attendees will be able to examine the designs as well as meet members of the 20 college teams from the United States, Belgium, Canada, China and New Zealand who will design, build and operate full-sized versions of the scale models during a 10-day competition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2011.

The models of the entries will be on display in the Orange County Convention Center in Hall D on Lobby Level II near the entrance to the IBS exhibit hall on Jan. 12-14.

The Appalachian State University entry.

During the competition, which will be held Sept. 23-Oct. 2, teams will compete in 10 contests to test each home's energy efficiency and ability to produce electricity and hot water from solar panels in order to perform all the functions in a home — from turning on the lights to cooking, washing clothes and dishes, powering home electronics and maintaining a comfortable temperature.

Each team’s house also will be judged on its architecture, livability and marketability. The teams must provide documentation about their home's design and communicate information on their home to the public.

As part of the competition, student teams will design, build and test their houses at their colleges and then dismantle and ship them to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In addition to the technology on display, the competition provides participating students with clean-energy training in residential construction that will prepare them to enter the workforce.

The Middlebury College entry.

The teams will take a week to rebuild their houses in a solar village on the Mall and open their homes to the visiting public.

NAHB has been a sponsor of the competition, which attracts thousands of visitors and garners worldwide attention.

For several years, NAHB also has offered free student memberships to the top teams and given the People’s Choice Award to the design that decathlon visitors vote as their favorite of the homes on display.

The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002. Since then, competitions have been held in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

For more information, visit www.solardecathlon.org; or e-mail John Ritterpusch at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8325.

The Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology entry.