Ah, reality television! Some blast the genre as proof the end is near, while others swear by its rich, guilty goodness. Me, well I’m somewhere in the middle. In general I think it’s a dangerous thing, but there’s something to be said for its educational and sociological potential.

Consider for a moment the good that might come from a show like Architecture School– a new reality series on the Sundance Channel. Architecture School teams up twelve students from Tulane University with URBANbuild and Neighborhood Housing Services as they construct a low-cost sustainable home for a family returning to New Orleans.

The house they’ve dreamt up is a two-story, 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house that features Structural Insulated Panels, or SIPs. SIPs are constructed by sandwiching foam insulation between two structural skins and are not only cool sounding, but also durable, energy efficient, and cost-effective. According to the Structural Insulated Panel Association, “The average SIP home saves nineteen times the energy it took to make the EPS insulation in the first year of installation.” I’ll take two!

The show premiered on Wednesday August 20th and will continue running through October 2nd. So if you aren’t totally skeeved out by “reality” television, tune in tonight and watch what happens.

via: inhabit.com