The BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home was designed and built by Louisiana students for Louisiana residents. Judges for the Market Viability contest in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon recognized that.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette team placed first in the contest.
Judges were looking for homes that answered the needs of their clients.

TEAM BeauSoleil designed for Louisiana residents who face harsh summers and hurricanes.

"The (BeauSoleil) house hit on all cylinders," said Joyce Mason, Market Viability judge and vice president for marketing with Pardee Homes. "We were so impressed with the degree to which the team listened to their market.
They didn't impose their ideas or try to infer them upon their residents."

The team is one of 20 university teams from across the globe competing in the Solar Decathlon on the National Mall. TEAM BeauSoleil is the only team from Louisiana to ever participate in this contest held every two years.

"We knew from the beginning that if we couldn't bring this home to the people of Louisiana, we wouldn't accomplish anything," said Gretchen Lacombe Vanicor, BeauSoleil project manager. "We paid a lot of attention to our Cajun culture and produced a product that is viable."

Read more about it here.