Solar Decathlon Competition 2012

Solar Decathlon Europe es una competición universitaria internacional que impulsa la investigación en el desarrollo de viviendas eficientes. El objetivo de los equipos participantes es el diseño y construcción de casas que consuman la menor cantidad de recursos naturales, y produzcan un mínimo de residuos durante su ciclo de vida. Se hace especial hincapié en reducir el consumo de energía, y obtener toda la que sea necesaria a partir del sol.

Solar Decathlon Europe is an international competition among universities which promotes research in the development of efficient houses. The objective of the participating teams is to design and build houses that consume as few natural resources as possible and produce minimum waste products during their life cycle. Particular emphasis is put on reducing energy consumption and on obtaining all the necessary energy from the sun.

During the final phase of the competition, teams shall assemble their houses in Madrid, in a place open to the public called Villa Solar, where all of them can be visited. They will be competing in ten contests (that is why it is called ‘decathlon’) that will decide which one is the winner of that edition. In the competition that took place in September 2012, were 18 proposals from 12 different countries, 8 of which will come from Europe (Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, and Romania) and four more from China, Japan, Brazil and Egypt.

All of these teams are supported by one or more universities and have the economic and technical support from institutions and companies. The main figures during the whole process, from the design to the last phase of the competition in Madrid are the students, known as ‘Decathletes’, who are guided by a professor, the ‘Faculty Advisor’.