This course is one of a series of special offerings dedicated to the Solar Decathlon, a biennial competition overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy. University teams compete to design and build the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The New School, Milano and Parsons, along with Stevens Institute of Technology join 20 finalists from universities across the US, New Zealand, Belgium, and China in the current competition. One feature that sets The New School team apart is our focus on affordable and sustainable housing in an urban community. To that end, we have partnered with DC Habitat for Humanity to apply lessons learned from this project to its housing model and build a duplex based on our entry in DCs Ward 7 community of Deanwood. In this course, students will continue the process of realizing the project goal of developing an approach to affordable and sustainable urban housing. To do so, students will study conceptual frameworks and best practices relevant to sustainable urban communities, and will draw upon this conceptual framework to analyze community assets, needs, and opportunities and to engage with stakeholders to advance Solar Decathlon project goals.