Solar Decathlon 2013 opens with home designs from four nations

11/10/2013

Nineteen teams of students from the United States and Europe unveiled their designs for solar-powered, energy-efficient homes at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Decathlon 2013, which began on October 3rd, 2013 in Irvine, California.

More than 1,000 students from the United States, Austria, Canada and the Czech Republic are participating in the competition, which will feature 10 contests that measure each home's performance, livability and affordability.

Team Alberta's Borealis is designed to meet the needs of workers in northern Alberta's forestry, mining and energy industries.

During the contest, the teams will have to perform a variety of tasks including cooking, laundry and washing dishes, to test the livability and energy use of the houses. The winning home will best combine affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency, at an estimated cost at or below USD 250,000.

DOE notes that the selected teams and their projects represent a range of design approaches, building technologies, geographic locations, climates and regions.

University of Calgary to return with Team Alberta

The University of Calgary (Calgary, Canada) will return to the Solar Decathlon this year in a combined team with Mount Royal University (Calgary) as Team Alberta. This team has produced the Borealis, an 84-square-meter home with lights and appliances that operate on solar power, in a design which produces as much electricity as the occupants consume.

Borealis is designed to address housing shortages and high costs for northern Alberta's energy, mining and forestry industries, and is based on two modules that flank a shared service core including a kitchen, dining room, bathroom and mechanical room.

At the last competition in 2011 the University of Calgary placed 10th out of 19 entries with the Cenovus Spo'pi Solar house, which is now a permanent facility on campus for sustainability research

Middlebury College, SCI-Arc/Caltech to return

In addition to the University of Calgary, two teams that participated in 2011 are returning: Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.) and a combined team of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc, Los Angeles) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, Pasadena, California, U.S.).

The Solar Decathlon will also be hosted alongside XPO, a clean, renewable and energy efficient energy exposition organized by the City of Irvine and Orange County Great Park, where the 2013 Solar Decathlon is located.

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Solar Decathlon 2013 opens with home designs from four nations

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