By Joe Simon
U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers have corrected the Affordability Contest results after discovering a minor error in the scoring spreadsheet calculations.
By Carol Anna
Wowing jurors with its attention to detail, craftsmanship, and unusual energy visualization system, New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) received first place today in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Engineering Contest for its First Light house.
By Alexis Powers
How do you identify the measured contest captain on each U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon team? Listen for words such as datalogger, monitored performance subcontest, and database-driven scoring application.
By Carol Anna
Before a packed auditorium today at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, the University of Maryland took first place in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Architecture Contest.
Alexis Powers
It may seem like all work all the time for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon’s student decathletes, but one contest brings teams together to earn points while relaxing and interacting with one another.
By Carol Anna
Note: Corrections to the Affordability Contest results were announced Sept. 30, 2011.
Proving that the cost of “going green” is decreasing, two teams tied for first place in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Affordability Contest. Parsons The New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology (which includes Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School) built Empowerhouse for less than $230,000. Purdue University’s INhome came in at just less than $250,000. These teams earned 100 points for achieving a target construction cost of $250,000 or less, as evaluated by a professional cost estimator.
Alexis Powers
The big buzz word in Washington, D.C., these days is budget. In the solar village at West Potomac Park, cost savings are top of mind for the decathletes as well.
We are four days into the competition, and the standings are extremely close. Normally, we would begin to see some separation, but the first- and second-place teams are just a point apart, and the total separation from top to bottom is only 20 points out of 1000. If this was a horse race, we’d need a speed camera to tell who is in the lead!
By Alexis Powers
The typical college student does about two loads of laundry a week. However, the student decathletes must go above and beyond this amount to earn full points for the Appliances Contest. In this contest, teams prove that their houses are not just energy-efficient but also fully functional.
By Carol Anna
One of the 10 contests in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011, Energy Balance measures the net energy each house produces or consumes over the course of the competition.
Virginia Tech took top honors to a standing ovation at the Solar Decathlon Europe awards ceremony today in Madrid, Spain. The decathletes were ecstatic to finally win after participating in four Solar Decathlons. And this was the closest margin of victory in a Solar Decathlon. Virginia Tech won by less than a point! (more…)
When I first arrived many days ago, I was so excited, I ran down to the Villa Solar to see what the teams were building. What I found was inspiration. I was inspired by the designs and the hard work. (more…)
Congratulations to the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences team for filling its house full of innovative technology. Today, points were awarded by all the juries at Solar Decathlon Europe for innovation. These points were added up to determine the winners of the Innovation contest.
At this afternoon’s award ceremony, the first-, second-, and third-place teams were announced. However, the points are being kept secret until Sunday evening to add suspense. But with the overall standings so very close—the top three teams (Virginia Tech, École National Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, and the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim) are within a few points of one another—who needs more suspense? (more…)
This afternoon at 5 p.m., the awards for the Sustainability contest were presented. Sustainability is one Solar Decathlon Europe contest that is not in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. It is worth 120 points, and it evaluates how green a house is. Equal to the Architecture contest in points, Sustainability is a contest many European teams designed their houses around in the hopes of acquiring an advantage. For Arts et Métiers Paris Tech, its green roof and recycled materials really paid off. The University of Nottingham, with its high-density urban solution, took second place.
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.
