WHY VIRGINIA TECH?

• In this interconnected global environment, the problems of one city, nation or region are fast becoming the problems of all.  Virginia Tech, as a leading academic institution, considers it has an ethical responsibility to show leadership in addressing large-scale problems and sees cross-sector partnerships among government, business and civil society as one important means by which to address those challenges.
• Virginia Tech, as a land-grant university, has a history of civic engagement on technology issues.  Now, as energy-saving issues move urgently to the fore, we see this project as a natural and relevant next step in terms of outreach, research and teaching action.
• The university's College of Architecture and Urban Studies historically has been in the top three of similar colleges in research and outreach funding.  At the graduate level, the school is ranked 10th, ahead of Princeton.  VT has just opened a new School of Construction that is jointly administered by Engineering and the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.
• VT sponsored and designed an award-winning solar house in the 2005 Solar Decathlon contest.

WHY WASHINGTON, D.C.?

• Washington, D.C. is a global city, so anything achieved here serves as a model for the rest of the world.  Implementing this program in the nation's capital also offers significant potential to influence federal policy with nationwide U.S. ramifications.
• The greater D.C. metropolitan area has at its core a lot of old infrastructure that is ready to be audited and retrofitted, if resources were made available.
• Virginia Tech has 45 graduate programs and 15 research centers in the National Capital Region, including architecture, urban planning and engineering.