This paper will describe the process and product of Cal Poly’s U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2015 entry. The Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition in which teams of faculty and students work to design, build, and compete with solar powered residences. There are ten individual contests involved in the Decathlon, including measured as well as juried tasks. The team from Cal Poly [called “Solar Cal Poly“] included faculty and students predominantly from architecture and engineering but also included members from four colleges and over ten disciplines (involving over 100 students over the 2 year project). The handson nature of this design/build/operate competition offers faculty an opportunity to work in tandem with students in an attempt to put their ecological ideals (as they relate to the build environment) into action.