| Solar Decathlon Europe | |
| Location: | Wuppertal, Germany |
| Organised: | Energy Endeavour Foundation[1] & University of Wuppertal[2] |
| Next: | September 2021 |
| Website: | https://www.solardecathlon.eu |
The Solar Decathlon Europe (SDE) is an international student-based Competition that challenges collegiate Teams to design, build and operate highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy.[3] The winner of the Competition is the Team able to score the most points in 10 contests.
On Oct. 18, 2007, the Spanish and U.S. governments signed a memorandum of understanding in which the Spanish Ministry of Housing committed to organise and host a Solar Decathlon in Europe.[4] The agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., next to the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid's Casa Solar during the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2007 Competition. The American signatory was Alexander A. Karsner, assistant secretary of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department of the U.S. Department of Energy, with Fernando Magro Fernández, undersecretary of housing of the Ministry of Housing representing the Spanish government.[5]
Modeled after the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, the first Solar Decathlon Europe took place in Madrid, Spain, in June 2010.[6] Decathletes from 17 Teams spent 10 days competing in the Villa Solar near the Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real).[7] A combination of task completion, measurement, and jury scoring determined Solar Decathlon Europe's first champion: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with Lumenhaus project.
Final results:[8]
| Rank | Country | Team/House | University | Total Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lumenhaus[9] | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States | 812 | ||
| 2 | Team Ikaros[10] | Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences, Germany | 811 | ||
| 3 | home+[11] | 808 | |||
| 4 | Armadillo Box | Ecole National Supérieure d'architecture de Grenoble | 794 | ||
| 5 | Luukku[12] | 777 | |||
| 6 | Team Wuppertal[13] | University of Wuppertal, Germany | 773 | ||
| 7 | Napevomo | 763 | |||
| 8 | RE:FOCUS[14] | 743 | |||
| 9 | SMLhouse | 737 | |||
| 10 | LIVINGEQUIA[15] | HTW Berlin Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, Germany | 729 | ||
| 11 | Bambu House | Tongji University, Shanghai, China | 683 | ||
| 12 | Solarkit | University of Seville, Spain | 678 | ||
| 13 | Low3[16] | Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain | 668 | ||
| 14 | La Envolvente del Urcomante | University of Valladolid, Spain | 648 | ||
| 15 | H.O.U.S.E | University of Nottingham, United Kingdom | 641 | ||
| 16 | Sunflower | Tianjin University, Tianjin, China | 585 | ||
| 17 | Fab Lab House[17] | Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain | 583 |
Second edition of the Solar Decathlon Europe was held from Sept. 14–30, 2012, in Madrid, Spain in the Casa de Campo. The final standings of its 18 competitors were:[18]
| Rank | Country | Team/House | University | Total Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhône Alpes/Canopea | École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble (France) | 908.72 | ||
| 2 | Andalucía Team/Patio 2.12[19] | Universidades de Sevilla, Jaén, Granada, and Málaga (Spain) | 897.39 | ||
| 3 | Med in Italy | Universitá Degli Studi di Roma Tre, Sapienza Universitá di Roma, Free University of Bozen, and Fraunhofer Italy (Italy) | 863.49 | ||
| 4 | ECOLAR[20] | University of Applied Sciences Konstanz (Germany) | 835 | ||
| 5 | RWTH Aachen University | RWTH Aachen University (Germany) | 819.31 | ||
| 6 | Odooproject/Odoo[21] | Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary) | 766.98 | ||
| 7 | CEU Team Valencia/SML System | Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera (Spain) | 765.98 | ||
| 8 | (e)co Team/ (e)co | Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (Spain) | 731.57 | ||
| 9 | Team PRISPA[22] | "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, and Politehnica University of Bucharest (Romania) | 719.16 | ||
| 10 | Team DTU/Fold[23] | Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) | 715.59 | ||
| 11 | Tongji Team/Para EcoHouse | 686.88 | |||
| 12 | EHU Team/Ekohouse | Universidad del País Vasco – Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (Spain) | 684.20 | ||
| 13 | Aquitaine Bordeaux Campus/Sumbiosi | Bordeaux University (France) | 674.80 | ||
| 14 | Team Brasil/Ekó House | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil) | 670.99 | ||
| 15 | Chiba University/The Omotenashi House | Chiba University (Japan) | 641.91 | ||
| 16 | cem+nem-/cem’ casas em movimento[24] | Universidade do Porto (Portugal) | 538.29 | ||
| 17 | , | Astonyshine Team/ Astonyshine | Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris – Malaquais, Universitá di Ferrara, Ecole des Ponts Paristech, and Politecnico di Bari (France-Italy) | 416.49 | |
| 18 | Universidad de Zaragoza Team/Pi House | Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) | 371.48 |
Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 took place in Versailles, France, June 28–July 14, 2014.
Official final results:[8]
| Rank | Country | Team | University | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Rhome4 DenCity[25] | Roma Tre University, Italy | 840.63 | |
| 2 | Team Atlantic Challenge | ENSA Nantes, ESB, Audencia Group, Audencia Nantes, École des mines de Nantes, ISSBA, IUT Nantes, Architectes Ingénieurs Associés, Atlansun, Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, Medieco, Novabuild, SAMOA, and SCE | 839.75 | |
| 3 | Team Prêt-à-Loger[26] | Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) | 837.87 | |
| 4 | Team Rooftop[27] | University of the Arts Berlin and Technische Universität Berlin (Germany) | 823.42 | |
| 5 | Team Lucerne-Suisse | Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – School of Engineering and Architecture (Switzerland) | 804.75 | |
| 6 | Team FENIX - UTFSM | Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaiso (Chile) and University of La Rochelle – Espace Bois de l'IUT (France) | 802.42 | |
| 7 | Team OnTop[28] | Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Germany) | 793.71 | |
| 8 | Team DTU | Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) | 780.01 | |
| 9 | Team Reciprocite | 776.92 | ||
| 10 | Team Barcelona Tech 2014 | Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain) | 776.24 | |
| 11 | Team Chiba University Japan | Chiba University (Japan) | 774.09 | |
| 12 | Team NCTU - UNICODE | National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) | 772.15 | |
| 13 | Team MEXICO | National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Center of Research in Industrial Design and the School of Engineering and the School of Arts (Mexico) | 760.17 | |
| 14 | Team Inside out | Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island (U.S.A.), Brown University, Rhode Island (U.S.A.), and University of Applied Sciences – Erfurt (Germany) | 657.46 | |
| 15 | Team Plateau | University of Alcalá and University of Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid (Spain) | 650.44 | |
| 16 | Team TEC | Costa Rica Institute of Technology, Cartago (Costa Rica) | 588.8 | |
| 17 | Team Kmutt | King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, (Thailand) | 508.15 | |
| 18 | Team SHUNYA | Academy of Architecture and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (India) | 452.3 | |
| 19 | Team EFdeN[29] | Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Politehnica University of Bucharest, and Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, (Romania) | 348.49 | |
| 20 | Team UPE | University of Paris-Est, ENSA Paris Malaquais, ENSA Marne la Vallée, ESTP Paris, École des ponts ParisTech, ESIEE Paris, ENSG, and French institute of science and technology for transport, spatial planning, development and networks (France) | 268.81 | |
And substitute Teams:
After the Solar Decathlon Europe in 2014, previous organisers, participants, supporters and decathletes worked to create a vehicle for the longevity of the Solar Decathlon in Europe. The culmination of this work was the creation of the Energy Endeavour Foundation (EEF) in 2016/2017 with the endorsement of the United States Department of Energy to steward the Solar Decathlon in Europe. The EEF subsequently issued a Call for Cities for the 2019 edition, which was awarded to Szentendre, Hungary in March 2017.
From this point onward the Energy Endeavour Foundation has fulfilled its stewarding role to the SDE editions organisers. Drawing upon the input of the SDE Council of Experts, the EEF provides continuity from one SDE edition to the next.
Solar Decathlon Europe 2019 took place in Szentendre, Hungary, July 12–July 28, 2019.
Official results:[31]
| Rank | Country | Team | University | Total Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Habiter 2030 | École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de paysage de Lille, France | 853.483 | ||
| 2 | Team MOR | Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) | 851.791 | ||
| 3 | Team Over4 | Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Romania | 802.501 | ||
| 4 | The Mobble | Ghent University, Belgium | 794.683 | ||
| 5 | Team Someshine | University of Miskolc, Hungary | 755.957 | ||
| 6 | Azalea | Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain | 744.471 | ||
| 7 | Resilient Nest | King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand | 733.974 | ||
| 8 | Team TO | Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain | 717.966 | ||
| 9 | Team Koeb[32] | Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary | 696.416 | ||
| 10 | Proyecto AURA | Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain) | 691.556 |
In July 2018 the Energy Endeavour Foundation (EEF) issued the Call for Cities for the 2021 edition of the Solar Decathlon Europe (SDE21). In early 2019, the EEF designated the city of Wuppertal,, as the host city for the SDE21, led by a team from the University of Wuppertal and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Due to the COVID19 health crisis the Solar Decathlon Europe 2021 was postponed, and took between June 10 and June 26, 2022. The SDE21>22 took place on the Utopiastadt Campus. Utopiastadt participated in the "Solar Decathlon goes urban" concept of the 2021 competition.[33]
The SDE21 Call for Teams was open until October 25, 2019, leading to the selection of 18 Teams from 11 countries. This edition of the SDE focuses on the requalification of urban environments, challenging the participating Teams in resolving one of three possible urban solutions: renovation and extension, closing gaps, and addition of stories.
The Teams that competed in the SDE21>22 were:
Two Teams from Bangkok, Thailand, SAB [50] from Bangkok University and Ur-Baan[51] from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi were unable to participate onsite due to high transportation costs.[52]
Final ranking[53]
1. Platz: Team RoofKIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
2. Platz: Team VIRTUe, Eindhoven University of Technology
3. Platz (draw): Team SUM, Delft University of Technology und Team AuRA, Grenoble National School of Architecture
The Call for Cities for the Solar Decathlon Europe 2023 (available here: sde23_ Call for Cities and… webinar! – SDE) was launched on July 14, 2020, by the Energy Endeavour Foundation. On April 7, 2021, the Capital City of Romania, Bucharest was designed as Host City for the SDE23.
In January 2022, through a joint decision between The Energy Endeavour Foundation (governing body of the Solar Decathlon Europe) and the Solar Decathlon Bucharesti Association, EFdeN, (SDE23 Host City Executives) the SDE23 edition was closed.
The Closure was a result of continued repercussions caused by the COVID pandemic, which created high uncertainty and volatility, with ensuing economic, social, and public health challenges.