Last Sunday, the winners of the Solar Decathlon Europe were announced in Madrid. The 17 international university teams had to cope with many individual disciplines and comprehensive measurement-based evaluations across ten days of competition. The winners of the international building decathlon have now been announced. The Virginia State University (USA) won first place, while the German university teams from Rosenheim and Stuttgart were respectively awarded second and third place.

The results could hardly have been closer: The building designed by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University was awarded a total score of 811.83 points in more than 30 individual disciplines. Ranked second was the building from Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences with 810.96 points. This building won first prize in the individual disciplines ‘Electrical Energy Balance’, ‘Comfort and Indoor Environment’ and ‘Functionality of the Building Services Technology’, as well as third prize for its architecture and an extra prize for the lighting concept. Third place was won by Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences with 807.49 points. The building from Stuttgart also achieved first prize in the individual ‘Innovation’ and ‘Planning and Construction’ disciplines.

The Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 competition was organised by the Spanish Ministry of Housing in cooperation with the US Department of Energy. Around 190,000 people visited the ‘Villa Solar’, the site of the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010. Four universities from Germany took part in the competition: Berlin University of Applied Sciences (10th place), Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences (2nd place), Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (3rd place) and the University of Wuppertal (6th place). The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology acted as patron for the German competitors and funded the university projects as part of its energy research programme.

A total of 17 universities from Europe, America and Asia vied to build the best home of the future with their individually developed, innovative prototypes. The scores awarded were weighted 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.

2nd place: Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences

The building from Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences featured an entirely new facade and solar shading concept – a variable ‘serrated’ facade that sinks into the ground and which provides solar protection in accordance with the time of day and season.

3rd place: Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences

The building from the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences is based on a compact building volume that is divided into individual modules. These are arranged at a slight distance to one another. The resulting intervening spaces are used to provide lighting, ventilation, pre-heating in winter and passive cooling in summer.

6th place: University of Wuppertal

With the building from the University of Wuppertal, two solar-active wall panels define a functional and open space. A structural framework supported on top of the wall panels spans the inner space without any intermediate supports, thus forming the upper enclosure to the building and a roof patio. The lower part of the facade can be fully opened to the outside spaces on the west and east sides by sliding back glass door elements.

10th place: Berlin University of Applied Sciences

A distinguishing feature of the building from Berlin University of Applied Sciences is its almost entirely black building envelope. The architectural concept is based on the traditional central European building typology for a single-family home, which is interrupted with two light axes in north-south and east-west directions.

You can find further information on the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 competition at enob.info which includes various articles and videos (german).