Solar Decathlon stars sustainable designs
Teams from universities and colleges around the world converged on Washington, D.C., to see who could make the best sun-powered house.
The third Solar Decathlon, held October 12–20 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., drew students from universities and colleges around the world "to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house," in the challenge set by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the primary sponsor of the event. Of the 20 teams competing, the Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany) crew created this year's winning entry. The team won in part for innovation as well as for their house's perfect score for "energy balance"—the stored battery energy was as much as or more than that used in the house.
Second place went to the University of Maryland team, which used a creative leaf-structure design. The roof of this house had a "stem" and "veins" for its architecture and solar cells for "photosynthesis". The team from Santa Clara University, which took third place, calculated that its house would cost about $250,000 to build if it was mass produced—about what many of the Solar Decathlon structures would cost.
Energy-saving concepts popped up throughout the teams' structures. For example, passive solar heating through well-insulated, south-facing windows made for beautiful views and innovative designs, such as the use of a curtain of milk bottles to trap heat in the Pennsylvania State University house. Teams incorporated sustainably harvested materials into their houses, including salvaged slate and trees grown on their university campuses. Other highlights included the miniature windmills perched outside the submission from Texas A&M University and the gardens that climbed homes' outer walls, watered with recycled gray water.
The Solar Decathlon will return to Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2009. For more pictures and information, go to www.solardecathlon.org.
