Digital Rendering of WaterShed
Team Maryland sees WaterShed as a way to create a built environment that interconnects the house, the landscape, and the people who live in it
Image Credit: Leah Davies
WaterShed is based on the concept that sustainable living means living as a part of the landscape and the natural processes that are a part of it. As a result, the design proposes a building that integrates itself with the landscape, creating one holistic system.
Our Mission

WaterShed, Team Maryland’s solar-powered house, is the culmination of an innovative learning program that combines team building, collaboration, experiential learning, age-old wisdom, and new technologies to provide tomorrow’s professionals, leaders and decision makers with the knowledge to rethink two of the most critical issues of our time – dependence on fossil fuels and consumption of potable water.

Natural ecosystems have evolved over millions of years to sustainably harness energy, produce goods and recycle waste. WaterShed is inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and aims to create its own micro-scale ecosystem, in which the home not only conserves resources, but also produces them. Our mission is to design and build a solar-powered house that is inspired and guided by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, interconnecting the house, landscape, and people who live in it.

At its core, the project has two principles:

  1. WaterShed mimics the cyclic nature of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Strong connections between the house and its site allow WaterShed to demonstrate the hydrologic cycle on a micro-scale using elements such as a green roof and constructed wetlands. WaterShed’s design showcases the carbon cycle in the edible garden and composting system. Like a food web, the technical systems are interconnected, leading to energy conservation and cost savings.
  2. WaterShed creates harmony between modernity, tradition and simple building strategies. Balancing time-trusted best practices and cutting-edge technological solutions allows WaterShead to achieve high efficiency performance in the home.