Engineering
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon houses represent the best of modern engineering. For the Engineering Contest, a jury of professional engineers evaluates each house for:
Functionality
Do the house's energy and HVAC systems function as intended?Efficiency
How much energy will the house's systems save over the course of a year relative to conventional systems? Will the system controls facilitate a reduction in energy consumption during a year of operation?Innovation
Are unique approaches used to solve design challenges? Do the proposed innovations have true market potential?Reliability
How long are the systems expected to operate at a high level of performance? How much maintenance is required to keep them operating at a high level?Documentation
Do the construction drawings, project manual, and audiovisual engineering presentation accurately reflect the constructed project as assembled on the competition site?
