The biannual Solar Decathlon was held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., just a few blocks from the GW campus, on October 9-18, 2009. A total of 20 university-led teams demonstrated high-tech, high-efficiency solar-powered homes have built for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Over 800 student competitors from the United States, Canada, Spain and Germany competed in the 2009 Solar Decathlon. This is the fourth time DOE has held the competition in Washington, D.C. since 2002.
The Solar Decathlon includes ten contests that evaluate the architecture, engineering, comfort, marketability, appliances, lighting, and other aspects of the teams’ houses. The teams were required to perform everyday tasks, including cooking, laundry, and washing dishes, to test the energy efficiency of their homes.
This year’s 20 university-led teams were chosen two years ago through a competitive process. The 20 university-led teams in this year’s competition were:
Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
Iowa State University (Ames, IA)
The University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
Penn State University (University Park, PA)
Universidad de Puerto Rico (San Juan, PR)
Rice University (Houston, TX)
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Lafayette, LA)
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)
University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL)
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
Team Boston (Boston Architectural College, Tufts University) (Boston, MA)
Team California (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts) (Santa Clara, CA)
Technische Universität Darmstadt (Winner, 2007 Solar Decathlon) (Darmstadt, Germany)
Team Missouri (Missouri University of Science & Technology, University of Missouri) (Rolla, MO)
Team Ontario/BC (University of Waterloo, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University) (Ontario, Canada)
Team Alberta (University of Calgary, SAIT Polytechnic, Alberta College of Art + Design, Mount Royal College) (Alberta, Canada)
This year’s winners were Team Germany (Technische Universität Darmstadt) – First Place; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Second Place; and Team California (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts) - Third Place.
More information about the Solar Decathlon can be seen at: www.solardecathlon.org/teams.cfm