The US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition that challenges college teams to build affordable, energy-efficient and aesthetically pleasing solar-powered houses. Team Austria (Vienna University of Technology) has just been announced the overall winner of 2013 event at Orange County Great Park in California, after the closest competition in its history. Second place went to University of Nevada Las Vegas and DesertSol, with the Czech Technical University achieving third place overall.
This year marks the first time that all of the entries tied for a win in the Energy category, as every house was successful in producing more energy than it consumes.
The Austrian team also shared a joint third-place award for the Engineering category. The team’s LISI (Living Inspired by Sustainable Innovation) house is a tribute to the forested regions of Austria, but also showed its relevance to the temperate Solar Decathlon site as a model for open space and outdoor living with generous deck space and a fully opening living area.
With a theme that stresses the importance of wood, the LISI house is built of 93 percent timber, including wood fiber and cellulose insulation, baked ash cladding, silver fir ceiling panels, oiled oak on the patio and ramp, and pressed bark chip on the walls of the bedroom and bath spaces. The team uses the analogy of a tree to explain the timber core as trunk and the lace-like curtain which surrounds the structure, as leaves. The curtain, the house’s most striking feature, is a Teflon fabric that has been cut in a pattern designed by the students but which is very robust despite its delicate appearance, and is similar to material used by the military for camouflage. It provides UV protection for the open areas of the house and light weather-proofing.
DesertSol also has the full array of energy technologies, including passive elements such as shading and ventilation and a layered insulation system that brings it to an r30 rating for the walls (against a standard of around r18). The UNLV team were the only US team to place in the top three, and shared a joint third place for the Engineering award.
SharathAnnaiah 