The Solar Decathlon Europe (SD Europe) 2010 was created through an agreement signed between the Government of Spain’s Ministry of Housing and the United States Government, who committed to organize a sustainable solar architecture competition in Europe. In October 2007, both governments signed an agreement (a Memorandum of Understanding) as part of the Solar City framework of the Solar Decathlon 2007. Nineteen top universities from around the world were selected to participate in the 2010 competition, which will be held in Madrid.
Their participation in the competition will undoubtedly serve to raise the visibility and prestige of those institutions.
This initiative touches on the priorities and objectives of both the European Union and the Spanish Government, including the promotion of and firm commitment to research and innovation applied to an issue of global strategic interest. Improvements will be made not only in energy efficiency, but also in sustainability in a sector that is as sensitive and important to the economy as construction.
Objectives of the Solar Decathlon Europe
As with the original event, the Solar Decathlon Europe competition will be an international competition among universities around the world with the goal of advancing the knowledge and dissemination of industrialized, solar and sustainable housing. The competition will be held in Madrid in June of 2010. The 20 prototypes, designed and built by the participating universities, will be assembled and displayed there.
The competition has four basic objectives:
1. To raise awareness of the students participating in the competition of the various benefits and opportunities offered by the use of renewable energies and energy efficient construction, challenging them to think creatively about energy and how it affects our everyday lives.
2. To educate the general public about renewable energy, energy efficiency, and the technologies available to help them reduce their power consumption. The event also aims to raise society’s awareness of the need for responsible energy use in home construction.
3. To encourage the use of solar technologies and to distribute them more quickly to the market, taking advantage of the interest generated by students, and to contribute to the development of energy efficient technologies and energy production, all of which is incorporated into an architecturally attractive house.
4. To clearly demonstrate that you can build high performance solar homes without sacrificing energy efficiency or comfort, and that they can be both attractive and affordable.
The winning house was the entry of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Lumenhaus. Inspired by the Farnsworth House by Mies Van Der Rohe, the house offers an open configuration which connects the houses inhabitants to the outdoors.
Winning House Design:
The interior and exterior of the house are joined together by a smooth transition when the Eclipsis System is open, contributing to a feeling of transparency. When the weather is nice, the windows can be opened to expand both the physical and psychological appearance of the space. The floor of the house doubles in size, and the southern and northern walls disappear to make the rooms seem as if they have no barriers or limitations. The multilayered wall-changing system allows for various forms of spatial organization and therefore different perceptions of the house. The central core plays an important role in allowing different configurations in the houses interior.
Each area of the house is set up for specific activities, but they are designed to be flexible and can be adjusted according to individual needs. For example, the doors within the central core incorporate the work area, storage and entertainment units, but may be shifted to close off the bedroom from the rest of the house in order to create a more private area. The kitchen can be transformed into a bar, and the dining table can be left outdoors during warm summer evenings. The modular design also means that the entire house is flexible and that multiple units can be connected or placed one above the other (connected by stairs) to create a house with 3 or 4 bedrooms.
Winning House Technology:
From its construction to its transportation, the house employed responsive architecture and other similarly advanced technological features. The concrete floor features a radiating floor heating system. This heats the house through a geothermal pump, which draws in heat during the winter and cools the floor during the summer. This procedure requires less energy use, making the house more efficient. In addition, the geothermal heat pump produces hot water as a byproduct during the summer.
The rooftop photovoltaic system has the ability to vary its angle in order to maximize the efficiency of the power gained from the sun. It is controlled through a computerized user interface that can be connected to an iPhone. In fact, the user can control all of the functions, including the Eclipsis System, the photovoltaic system, the temperature, the electricity and the entertainment devices, with the simple use of an iPhone.
Tags: Advanced, competition, efficiency, energy efficiency, energy efficient construction, energy use, Europe, event, geothermal, Global, government of spain, heating, hot water, International, Madrid, memorandum of understanding, ministry of housing, photovoltaic system, power, power consumption, prototypes, renewable, renewable energies, renewable energy, s system, solar, solar architecture, solar city, solar decathlon 2007, solar technologies, storage, Sun, sustainability, sustainable, System, Technology, title, top universities, u.s., united states, US
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