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In its design strategy, the Virginia Tech team perfected the art of integration, efficiency, and utility.

Solar Decathlon 2002

Presentation and Simulation

(100 points)

To help the 2002 Solar Decathletes pursue careers in the buildings industry, the Design Presentation and Simulation Contest provided them with experience in producing design and construction documents, as well as using computer modeling for energy analysis.

Judging Criteria

The Design Presentation and Simulation Contest subjective criteria included:

  • The quality, innovation, and completeness of computer simulations used to develop a home's design
  • The clarity of architectural designs
  • The clarity of the engineering design and its integration with the architectural design

And the Winner Was...

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University won this contest with a score of 83.658 points out of 100 possible points. Here's what the judges said:

Virginia Tech's construction drawings included nicely executed 3-D views of the house. It was the only team to show a schematic of the energy management control system. The team provided the best photovoltaic and electrical system drawings—a contractor could easily build the system based on the drawings. The team appropriately used different analysis tools to address the demand and supply sides of the energy picture and showed a good understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the various tools used. The team also used the simulation tools well to optimize the energy performance of their design. According to simulation results, the team's house was designed to perform better than all the other houses.

You can learn more about Virginia Tech's home and team.