We couldn't stand the wait for the German house last Sunday...at least 30 min, maybe more. The Maryland house was very comfortable, agreed, nice polish and attention to design. The kids there didn't seem as knowledgeable as the UC Boulder or MIT teams.

The whole thing was inspiring.

I saw the MIT house too - I guess because I went there. I have to admit that knowing the place, I wasn't expecting much from an aesthetic point of view. IIRC, they weren't there 2 years ago, so I suppose it isn't bad for a 1st effort.

It seems that a successful entry tends to have a good working relationship between engineering, architecture and interior design. Yeah, the house needs to be energy efficient and have the solar cells, and that part all needs to work. But given the 800 sq foot limitation, you cannot really have any wasted space either - you need a really good floor plan. And finally, the thing just needs to look comfortable.