Too close to call! Virginia Tech had a commanding 35-point lead at Solar Decathlon Europe earlier this week, but the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim has cut that lead to only six points now. With only today and tomorrow left to score performance-based points, everything the teams do—from hot water draws to cooking to washing to cooling their houses—really makes a difference. Every point counts. 

The current leaders’ scores are:

All the juries have now gone through the houses and made their evaluations. As of today, there are three more subjective contests to be awarded:

The organizers are holding the last announcement (Solar Systems and Hot Water) until just before the final, overall award ceremony to provide drama and excitement. As you can see, this competition is still too close to call.

The people’s choice award will be announced Saturday evening, so if you haven’t voted for your favorite team yet, you are running out of time! You can vote at www.sdeurope.org.

On another note, as we move into the final days of competition, it has become hot! We started out with rain and cool temperatures, but now it is very hot and sunny. Every day has brought perfectly clear, cloudless skies. The teams have been producing large surpluses of electricity. The city of Madrid is happy to have all the extra power!

Richard King is the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Throughout the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers are reporting from Madrid.

The Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences celebrates its win in the Engineering and Construction contest.

The Germans and French ran away with the prestigious Engineering and Construction contest at Solar Decathlon Europe today. Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences was awarded first place, and Arts et Métiers Paris Tech took second.  A two-way tie was announced for third between the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim and Ecole National Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble.

The jury members had high praise for the engineering excellence exhibited by all the teams and said even they learned a lot. They also said they were impressed by how many teams focused on the goal of “doing more with less.” That is the real challenge today for engineers, they said.

The Arts et Métiers Paris Tech team placed second in the Solar Decathlon Europe Engineering and Construction contest.

This following is from a Solar Decathlon Europe press release:

Solar Decathlon Europe has just awarded the prize for the Engineering and Construction contest in another ceremony at the Villa Solar.  Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, with its solar house, … has just become the winner of this contest with 72 points, followed by Arts et Métiers Paris Tech with 66 points. École National Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble and University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim share the third position with 64 points.

The scores earned by the teams in this contest are:

Virginia Tech and the University of Florida did not fare well in the engineering contest. Virginia Tech was awarded 51 points and thirteenth place; Florida received 47 points for fourteenth place.  However, I think Virginia Tech remains in first place by a slim seven points. Too close for comfort!

Richard King is the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Throughout the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers are reporting from Madrid.

Ambassador Solomont visits the University of Florida team.

Ambassador Solomont poses with the Virginia Tech team on the deck of its house.

Today at 11 a.m., U.S. Ambassador to Spain Alan Solomont visited Solar Decathlon Europe.

Much to the delight of the U.S. teams, Ambassador Solomont toured the University of Florida house and then the Virginia Tech house. The ambassador also visited two Spanish teams: the Universidad de Sevilla and the Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Finally, he visited Tongji University’s Bamboo House. Ambassador Solomont praised the students and faculty and was very impressed by their work. He spent more than an hour and a half touring the houses.

As of this morning, Virginia Tech was 38 points in the lead! The team is thrilled to be in first place overall and is working hard to stay ahead of Ecole National Supérieure darchitecture de Grenoble, which is in second place. The French are proving to be tough competitors in their first competition.

This afternoon at 5 p.m., the awards for the Engineering contest will be announced. This is an important contest that will affect many of the teams, so stay tuned!

Richard King is the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Throughout the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers are reporting from Madrid.

The award ceremonies continue in Solar Decathlon Europe’s Villa Solar. This afternoon, the Communications and Social Awareness award was presented to the University of Florida for its solar house, RE:FOCUS.

The minute the University of Florida team members welcomed me into their house for a tour, I felt appreciated as a guest. They seemed so happy folks were there and enjoyed explaining the wonderful features of their traditional Florida house. Unbiased as I am, I really feel they deserve the Communications and Social Media award. Congratulations to Florida!

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and Fanchhoschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin were awarded second and third place, respectively.

The scores in the Communications and Social Media contest were:

Jane Kolleeny, Javier Gregori, and Miguel Ángel Valladares were the jury members in this contest. They evaluated how well the teams communicated the benefits of solar energy, the energy efficiency of their house, and sustainability.

Richard King is the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Throughout the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers are reporting from Madrid.

As of 7 p.m. Monday, Virginia Tech remains in first place overall at Solar Decathlon Europe because of its third-place finish in the Industrialization and Market Viability contest. The Industrialization and Market Viability announcement was made at 5 p.m. today. The Virginia Tech decathletes were extremely happy to again place in the top three in a major contest.

The Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera team celebrates its first-place win.

The winner of the Industrialization and Market Viability contest  was the Spanish team from Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. It has the beautiful house made out of Corian I wrote about last week. Congratulations also go to the Rosenheim team for winning second place.

The overall standings (which can be found on the Solar Decathlon Europe home page) show Virginia Tech in first, University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim in second, and Ecole National Supérieure darchitecture de Grenoble in third.

Today’s Solar Decathlon Europe press announcement included the following:

Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Winner of the Solar Decathlon Europe Industrialization and Market Viability Award

Solar Decathlon Europe has awarded the prize for the Industrialization and Market Viability contest to Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, with its solar house, SML House. University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University have been awarded second and third place, respectively.

Senka Morioka, Luis Basagoiti, and Garry Palmer have been the members of the jury for the Industrialization and Market Viability contest. They have judged the viability of the housing market and the possibilities of industrialization and group association in greater density.

The scoring earned by the teams has been:

Richard King is the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Throughout the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers are reporting from Madrid.