Two-time winner University of Colorado was the team to beat, with this year’s unique “core” concept, but they suffered early with some low scores in appliance stamina and maintaining a comfortable temperature in the home. Instead, one of only two international teams in the contest, Technische Universität Darmstadt, was just announced to be the overall winner of this year’s Solar Decathlon. Their house not only survived a long boat ride from Europe undamaged, but featured a clever “passive energy design” and an electrical bus system with pre-programmed light options that brought them first place in both the Architecture and Lighting contests, as well as the just announced Engineering contest.
Local team University of Maryland put up a tough fight, scoring first or second in 5 of the ten categories, but couldn’t make up for the 17th ranked showing in Appliances, keeping them in a still admirable second place. Their proximity to the Chesapeake Bay gave their LEAFhouse a “bio-inspired design” that included, among other features, plants growing on the exterior walls. Tom Welsh from the Department of Energy noted that the biggest upset in the competition, however, came this afternoon, when Santa Clara University beat out Penn State in the Engineering challenge, to take home 3rd place.
