World Competitors Shine
Germany wins 2007 competition, Spain places fifth
by Michael Hamner
American University Interactive Journalism Program
Fall 2007
Photo by Michael Hamner
Jonathan Jobin -Team Montreal House
WASHINGTON, D.C.–University teams from solar powerhouse Germany and sunny Spain scored first and fifth, respectively, in the 2007 Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, on the National Mall.
The Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany, overpowered the other contestants in its use of technology and modern architecture.
Architect jury chairman Gregory Kiss, of Kiss + Cathcart, Architects, said of the German University’s house: “This project is successfully integrated at every level. The simple restrained concept is well executed, especially in the details… We feel the project pushes the envelope on all levels. It is the type of project we came to the Decathlon hoping to see.”
The German team’s house, a flat roof design, with oak louvered shutters, hides it’s high-tech core behind a warm wood façade typical of a vacation cabin. From an exterior view the house seemed quaintly out of place among the giant solar panel roofs of its neighbors.
On closer inspection the hi-tech features are revealed: small, rectangular photovoltaic, or PV panels are attached to the movable shutter louvers on the south, east and west sides of the house and are computer-controlled and programmed by a Global Positioning System to automatically track the sun’s path.
Photo by Michael Hamner
Team UPM (Madrid) and Casa Solar
Team Leader, Jörg Thöne, when asked early in the contest if his team could win the competition, said: “Well, we don’t know – we hope so, of course – everybody does, but I think actually we all have had a very good time, and we have learned a lot during this process, so I think we’ve won already…”The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) house has an unusual green wall on the front of their “Casa Solar” which is actually a hinged door, providing access to the utility components of the house. However, it is the dramatically pitched, integrated-PV roof that sets the Spanish house apart from its neighbors.Kiss said of the Casa Solar: “This house has a lot of poetry to it. The exterior green door/wall is a terrific innovation and whimsical at the same time. The house feels like an exploration that is still in progress… The pitched roof makes for an interesting space and the long linear space makes the house feel larger than it is.”
Photo by Michael Hamner
Rafael Olivencia - Univ. of Puerto Rico
Team Montreal, comprised of students from three Montreal universities, also makes use of vegetation - in, on top of, and around the house, to maximize the efficiency of the heating and cooling systems. Their house is complex – composed of more component parts than many of their competitors. Although the house performed sufficiently to finish eighth in the Solar Decathlon, it was not really designed for Washington-area heat and humidity, according to Montreal team-member, Jonathan Jobin.
Puerto Rico team member, Rafael Olivencia, a professor from the Universidad de Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, compared his team’s house to a living cell, using recycled greywater to nurture a hydroponic window garden, and incorporating rainfall and humidity, plants, and even a rock garden, into the heating and cooling systems of the house.
During the Solar Decathlon, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Alexander Karsner, and Spain’s Undersecretary of Housing, Fernando Magro Fernández, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in the development of a Solar Decathlon-Europe competition in 2010. This competition is expected to be held in Madrid and will occur on years in which the U.S. Decathlon is not being held.
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