Competition will range from community groups, to corporate teams, to int’l teams

On Tuesday evening the Longmont City Council gave the green light to DaVinci Quest CEO Karl Dakin to proceed with the 2010 Smarter, Safer, Greener House Competition where teams from around the world will compete to retrofit existing homes to maximum efficiency. DaVinci Quest is now issuing an open invitation for teams to sign up to compete for the $500,000 prize.

Teams are invited to enter the Smarter, Safer, Greener House Contest as a Team and compete to win bragging rights and a minimum cash prize of $500,000.  Individuals, businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies from anywhere in the world may enter the Contest.  A Team may be comprised of a group of individuals or organizations.

To win the cash prize, your Team will need to renovate a house in the City of Longmont, Colorado, United States to make it more environmentally friendly, more intelligent and safer to live in while outperforming every other Team in the Contest.

As a Team, your goal is to:

• Reduce energy consumption to less than 470,000 Btu’s (137 kWh’s) of energy/month per person (20% of current United States personal average)
• Produce and store energy in an amount of more than 7.5 million Btu’s (2,200 kWh’s) of energy/month (100% of current United States average for a family of four)
• Reduce water consumption to less than 1000 gallons/month per person
• Reduce waste (non-recycled) to less than 30 pounds/month per person

In addition, you must install an electronic device that enables the Homeowner to control energy and water consumption as well as communications within the home and enable communications to the local community safety departments.  See Official Rules for full details.

The retail price of all time and materials, products and services you provide in the renovation must not exceed $25,000.  You may only charge through to the Homeowner your direct costs without overhead charges or profit, which total costs may not exceed $15,000.  The Homeowner will be responsible for payment of these costs.  However, a Team may expend an unlimited amount of money in the design and planning of their renovation work.

Teams may include:

• individuals or organizations with new technology products for green or smart buildings
• general contractors who specialize in ‘green buildings’ and ‘intelligent building’ upgrades
• businesses who currently manufacture products commonly used in energy conservation, water conservation, energy production and storage, or home communication systems
• students, civic groups or other organizations with an interest in energy conservation

It is expected that each Team will be a collaboration of a contractor licensed to complete building renovations in Colorado combined with manufacturers of alternative energy devices, energy storage devices, water management devices, building supplies and home control devices as well as one or more experts on systems engineering, Wi-Fi communications, energy conservation, and waste management.

To enter the Contest, you must pay an entry fee of $25,000 and submit a signed Contest Agreement which incorporates the Official Rules.  Each Team must conform to the Official Rules at all times during the Contest.

The number of entrants to the Contest will be limited by the number of Homeowners with qualifying homes who make their houses available to the Contest.  Our goal is 50 houses, however there is no assurance that we will obtain this many commitments. Therefore, to assure a place in the contest, a Team should execute the Contest Agreement and pay the entry fee as soon as possible.   Each Team will then be assigned a priority number and matched with Homeowners in order of their priority.  We expect to complete this stage of the Contest by March 1st, 2010.

As soon as possible after March 1st, 2010, each Team will submit to the Homeowner of their assigned house a Renovation Plan for the Homeowner’s approval.  With the Homeowner’s approval, the plan will be submitted to the City of Longmont.  All plans must conform to building codes and zoning restrictions and have the City’s approval.

Pre-Contest information will be captured on each Contest house regarding energy and water consumption as well as waste generation during the month of May, 2010.

All renovations will be completed between June 1 and August 31, 2010.

Post-Contest information will be captured on each Contest house regarding energy and water consumption, waste generation as well as energy production and storage during the month of September, 2010.

Data will be tabulated with the winner of the Contest announced at the 1st Annual Smarter, Safer, Greener House Convention in October of 2010.

DaVinci Quest will provide support to each Team during the Contest.  Support will include:

• Access to a database on technologies that may be implemented in the Contest;
• A construction advisor who will work with the Team and the City of Longmont to facilitate issues related to building codes, permits or other matters; and
• A public relations advisor who will work with DaVinci Quest and the Team to provide information to the media.

To participate in the Contest, the Captain and each Member of a Team will sign a Contest Agreement.  This Agreement grants to DaVinci Quest exclusive publicity rights with regard to the Team’s participation in the Contest.  DaVinci Quest will grant to each Team a license to state that they are an authorized Team in the Smarter, Safer, Greener House Contest.

DaVinci Quest is a for profit social enterprise dedicated to solving problems through innovation.

For more information about entering the Contest or about DaVinci Quest or the Contest, go to:

• DaVinci Quest or
• Call Chris Meyers, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development – 720 244 7898

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