The U.S. Department of Energy, sponsor of the prestigious Solar Decathlon — devised to encourage ideas for a more cost-effective, energy-efficient solar house— has announced mid way through this year’s student design competition that they will be abandoning post on the National Mall, where the previous four events have been held since 2002. 20 teams totaling more than 1,000 students have been developing their site-specific entries for over a year, and the news comes as a huge disappointment, and inconvenience. Some have threatened to drop out. Others are working to reverse the decision before a new site is named.

The DOE said in a release that it’s working with the National Parks Service to protect the mall, where prototype green houses were to be designed and built by university students. From the Solar Decathlon:

In support of the historic effort underway to protect, improve, and restore the National Mall, the Department of Energy, in conjunction with the National Park Service, has decided to seek a new site for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011.

And much to the chagrin of students, who have already substantially designed their buildings,the DOE hasn’t yet named an alternative site. Students will soon be finalizing construction documents and building their houses for a fall exhibition, wherever that might be.

One distraught student has created a petition to President Obama to reinstate the National Mall as this year’s venue and over three thousand signatures have already been collected:

With only eight months remaining until the competition, we will face an insurmountable challenge to alter the designs, already in advanced stages, for installation in an as-yet unknown location. In addition, the considerable effort made to source materials and equipment for our solar-powered homes from local manufacturers and, in some cases, to engage the D.C. community in the afterlife of the structures may be for naught.

There’s also a Facebook page dedicated to keeping the Decathlon on the Mall, including email addresses for Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

“We’ve been working on this project for over a year and a half,” Reed Finlay, Project Manager of SCI-Arc and Caltech’s entry, told AN‘s Sam Lubell. Their project, CHIP 2011, which includes a snug wrapping of vinyl over cellulose insulation, canted rooftop PV panels, and a sloping cantilever (previously) meant to highlight a view of the Washington Monument,  has involved  60 students and over $100,000 in donations. “The Mall gives exposure and credibility to what we’re doing… They don’t know who they’re messing with,” he added. “I think they’ll be surprised with the backlash.”