The Solar Decathlon competition involved 17 universities from around the globe competing to design and build eco-friendly, life-size homes that run entirely on solar energy. The homes were lived in for the duration of the competition, to demonstrate the latest innovations in efficient, attractive and affordable solutions to sustainable living of the future.
After 10 days of competition attracting over 190,000 visitors, the Villa Solar closed its doors last weekend with the final award ceremony to announce the winner of Solar Decathlon Europe. The Lumenhaus design from a team from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University was pronounced the most efficient of the competition, followed in second and third place, respectively, by houses designed by the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim and the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences.
Inspired by the Farnsworth house by Miles Van Der Rohe, the Lumenhaus presents an open distribution that connects the inhabitants of the house with the external environment.
Other awards
The University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim with their solar house, Ikaros, was the winner of the Electrical Energy Balance Contest, based on an evaluation of the electricity self-sufficiency and the solar energy consumption efficiency of the houses. The University of Florida and the Ecole National Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble came in at second and third place.
The University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim was also given the Award for Appliances and Functioning. Throughout this contest, the houses’ functioning was evaluated along with the efficiency of all equipment and appliances therein, simulating the daily operations of a contemporary home. Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University took the second and third places in this competition.
Meanwhile, the prize for Solar Systems was given to Fachochschule fur Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, with the house, Living Equia. The jury, comprising Willi Ernst, Marcos Calvo Fernández, and Christian Bongartz, evaluated the functionability, efficiency, robustness, and economic value of the solar systems and the domestic hot water systems installed in the houses. Second and third prizes were awarded to Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and Arts et Métiers Paris Tech, respectively.
From the beginning of the competition on 18 June, the public was invited to vote for their favourite project online at www.sdeurope.org. As a result, the Internet Award went to the University of Florida.
Lastly, the Public’s Choice Award for the house that visitors believed was the best solar home was given to the Instituto Avanzado de Arquitectura de Cataluña and the Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera.
With these awards, Solar Decathlon Europe (organized by the Ministry of Housing with the collaboration of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the support of the US Department of Energy) bids an “adios” until 2012. Seventeen university teams from seven countries and three continents participated in the competition constructing real, sustainable, self-sufficient and comfortable houses exclusively sustained by solar energy. The event’s main sponsor was Saint-Gobain, along with contributions from Schneider Electric, Rockwool, Kömmerling, and FCC.
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