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| German Technische Universitat Darmstadt Wins Solar Decathlon Germany's Technische Universitat Darmstadt has earned top honors in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The 2007 Solar Decathlon challenged twenty university-led teams from the U.S. and as far away as Puerto Rico, Spain, Germany, and Canada to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home. Students competed in ten areas, ranging from architecture, livability and comfort to how well the homes provided energy for space heating and cooling, hot water, lighting, and appliances. Technische Universitat Darmstadt earned 888.45 points out of a possible 1, 200 to win the competition, followed by University of Maryland with 872.45 points and Santa Clara University with 860.80 points. While congratulating the teams at the Closing Awards Ceremony, Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman announced over $44 million to support the commercialization and promotion of advanced solar and other clean energy technologies. "I want to congratulate this year's Solar Decathlon champion Technische Universitat Darmstadt and the 19 other teams for their innovative designs and application of solar technologies. The Solar Decathlon is a great demonstration of the ways in which technology, science and design can be blended in the production of net-zero-energy homes", Secretary Bodman said. "Promoting the early commercialization of solar and other energy efficient technologies will help secure America's clean energy future." The Solar Decathlon's homes are net-zero-energy, yield zero carbon, and include the latest high-tech solutions and money-saving benefits to consumers, without sacrificing comfort, convenience, and aesthetics. Each house must also produce enough "extra" energy to power an electric vehicle. Many of the solar power and building technologies showcased on the National Mall are currently available for purchase and use. Teams have worked for more than two years designing, building and testing their homes – the Solar Decathlon is the culmination of that work. Solar Decathlon Individual Contest Winners: Appliances In the Appliances contest, Texas A&M University earned the most points based on keeping refrigerators and freezers cold, for washing and drying 12 towels for two days, for cooking and serving meals, for washing dishes in a dishwasher, and running a TV and a computer, all on electricity generated from only sunlight. The team scored 98.19 out of 100 possible points. Architecture Technische Universitдt Darmstadt was named the winner of the Architecture Contest and was awarded 193.25 points out of a possible 200. A jury of architects judged homes on ease of entry into the house and circulation among the public and private areas; architectural strategy used to accommodate the technologies required to run the house; and generosity and sufficiency of space in the house as well as the house's strength, suitability and appropriateness of materials in the building. Comfort Zone The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign topped the contestants in the Comfort Zone contest, with 83.4 out of 100 points for maintaining indoor temperatures between 72 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Communications The University of Maryland's communications efforts, including on-site signage, student-led tours, and team website, were judged best by the jury with a score of 98.2 points out of a possible 100. Energy Balance In the Energy Balance contest, teams were awarded full points if the energy supplied to their batteries by the sun was at least as much as the energy used from the batteries. Technische Universitдt Darmstadt, Santa Clara University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Maryland, University of Cincinnati, Universidad Politйcnica de Madrid, and Carnegie Mellon University all earned the maximum 100 points in this contest. Engineering Technische Universitдt Darmstadt also won the Engineering contest, which was evaluated by a group of prominent engineers, who determined which solar home best exemplified excellence in the design of heating and air conditioning systems, refrigeration, and lighting. Technische Universitдt Darmstadt scored 136.40 out of a possible 150 points. Getting Around The Getting Around contest required students to use electricity generated by their solar houses to power electric vehicles. The University of Colorado earned the most points by traveling the furthest, 86.33 miles around the National Mall. Hot Water Five Decathlon teams earned the maximum 100 points in the hot water contest shower tests, which aimed to deliver 15 gallons of hot water in 10 minutes or less. Of course, the water was heated by the sun. The teams were the University of Texas, Santa Clara University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Kansas and Universidad de Puerto Rico. Lighting University of Maryland was named the winner of the Lighting Contest where teams earned points based on meeting specific lighting requirements in each room of their solar-powered home. Contest officials measured lighting levels both day and night; lighting design experts toured each house to evaluate the aesthetics, innovation and performance of the teams' lighting designs. The University of Maryland earned 79.81 points out of a possible 100. Market Viability The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign won the Market Viability contest which evaluates a home's market appeal, cost-effective construction and integration of solar technology into its design, having earned 114.35 points out of a possible 150 as judged by the professional jury. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |