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Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 in Madrid
The Solar Decathlon Europe competition was initiated and hosted for the first time in Europe by the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The competition is based on the renewable energy competition of the same name held in the USA.
After ten days of construction with unusually severe rain, the 17 international university teams had to compete in numerous individual disciplines and undergo comprehensive measurement evaluations during the ten days of competition. The competition began on 18 June 2010 and was decided on Sunday, 27 June 2010. The winners of the international building decathlon are now known: the university team from Virginia (USA) won first place, while the German university teams from Rosenheim and Stuttgart were awarded second and third place.
Here you can watch a video of the competition … (In German)
Background: Solar Decathlon Europe 2010
In June 2010, seventeen student teams from all over the world used the construction site in the Spanish capital of Madrid to compete against one another in the solar power competition. The aim was to design an energy-efficient and innovative house whose occupants are supplied solely with energy from the sun.
A total of 17 universities from Europe, America and Asia vied with one another to demonstrate which university and country has the best technological expertise. In Madrid, each of the 17 teams presented a prototype for a home that produces more energy than it actually needs.
Four universities from Germany took part in the competition: the Berlin University of Applied Sciences, the Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences, the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and the University of Wuppertal. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology funded these university projects as part of the EnOB research initiative.
Info: Madrid venue
In a similar manner to the American competition in Washington, the site of the individual houses in Madrid had been chosen to relate to important urban landmarks. In June 2010, the venue for the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 was located at the “Villa Solar” – a 30,000 m2 site on the banks of the Rio Manzanares opposite the Royal Palace. The adjacent picture shows the backdrop against which the competition was held. The experimental project houses were constructed on the immediate fringe of the historical city centre alongside the city’s largest park – its so-called “green lung”. During a one-week exhibition in June, a jury assessed the buildings’ performance in 10 disciplines. More than 150,000 visitors, trade professionals and journalists attended this international event. That presented the teams with a particular challenge, since in order to enable all visitors to inspect the houses in detail, an atmosphere had to be created that prevented long queues while at the same time enabling sufficient information to be conveyed visually or interactively. Bridges were built to provide public access during the competition and the entire site could be viewed from the surrounding area.
Info: Assessment system
Ten individual disciplines have to be fulfilled in order to be able to present a successful concept for living in the future at the end of the competition. The competition rules specify the scope of tasks to be fulfilled in each discipline and the scores that must be attained. The teams had to regularly update the organisers about their progress in designing the building in order to be able to take part in the competition in Madrid. In the overall assessment of the design concepts and their structural implementation, a maximum of 1,000 points are awarded that are decisive for winning the competition.
The weighting of the scores is distributed in accordance with quantitative and objective criteria on the one hand and qualitative and subjective requirements on the other. The rules of the Solar Decathlon Europe are based on the original American competition rules. Included in addition are assessment scores for innovation and the sustainability of the concept.
Discipline-based scoring system
Values in brackets: Scores for individual categories
Architecture
Architecture (120), Engineering and Construction (80)
Solar energy system
Solar Systems and Hot Water (80), Energy Balance (120)
Comfort
Comfort Conditions (120), Appliances and Functionality (120)
Social/Economic
Communication and Social Awareness (80), Industrialisation and Market Viability (80)
Strategic
Innovation (80), Sustainability (120)
Maximum number of points: 1,000 points