AMES, Iowa — Muscatine native Melissa Mathis will be working on a  project in Washington D.C. this month.

Mathis, now in her fourth year of Iowa State’s five-year architecture program, will represent her school at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, Oct. 8-19.

Iowa State is among 20  collegiate teams from the U.S., Canada, Spain and Germany that will compete to build the best completely self-sufficient solar powered house.

Mathis, 21, a 2006 Muscatine High School graduate, said this is the first time Iowa State has participated in the decathlon, which will be staged for the fourth time since 2002.

Her  team consists of students from a variety of majors, because building the home requires many specific skills including communications and engineering.

The decathlon  consists of 10 individual contests that evaluate the teams’ skills in architecture, home design and communications.

“I’ve always been interested in building and construction,” said Mathis. “And I like the blend of math, science and the arts.”

The ISU team designed and researched various aspects of the house and competition for about a year, then started construction in January 2009 and completed in mid-September 2009.

Mathis said the concept of the house, the Interlock House, is to signify the way it interlocks with the environment, its occupants and the surrounding community.

“We have a target market of the senior community for this home,” said Mathis. “It’s freestanding  and produces its own energy.”

The goal of the teams is to design homes that produce enough electricity and hot water from solar panels to run electrical appliances and lights.

Mathis said her team will install a piping system, part of which is mounted on the roof to catch heat from the sun. The heated water is piped throughout the home to keep it warm.

The house features panels manufactured by McKee Button Co. in Muscatine in an interior translucent window panel and in a unique application of the panels veneered to some of the doors.

McKee has transformed its button-making industry into a manufacturer of plastic designs for home and commercial interiors.

An office chair was purchased from The HON Co.

“I thought, ‘Hey, that’s from my hometown,’” said Mathis.

After completing the assembly of the 800-square-feet home, the team took it down so the parts could be transported to Washington D.C.

Mathis said her team is reassembling the modules of the house in Washington D.C. now, preparing it for  public tours and the competition.

Mathis, daughter of Gary and Debbie Mathis of Muscatine, hasn’t decided where she will work when she finishes the architecture program next year.

“There is a good chance that I will stay in the area after I graduate the five-year professional architecture program next year because of offers to come back and work for Gere/Dismer Architects,” said Mathis. “I enjoyed working there this past summer and will be continuing my internship experience there next summer.”

DetailsColleges and universities competing in the 2009 Solar Decathlon:

Cornell University

Iowa State University

The Ohio State University

Penn State

Rice University

Team Alberta (University of Calgary, SAIT Polytechnic, Alberta College of Art and Design, Mount Royal College)

Team Boston (Boston Architectural College, Tufts University)

Team California (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts)

Team Missouri (Missouri University of Science and Technology, University of Missouri)

Team Ontario/BC (University of Waterloo, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University)

Technische Universität Darmstadt

Universidad de Puerto Rico

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

The University of Arizona

University of Illinois

University of Kentucky

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

University of Minnesota

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Virginia Tech