Visitors to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. this week-end got to see for themselves what futuristic energy efficient housing looks like when the Energy Department put up a “solar village” composed of houses designed by college students competing in the DOE’s Solar Decathlon.
The exhibit ran between September 23 and October 2 and featured daily workshops for people interested in installing solar panels at their homes, as well as sessions about how to lower your bills by making your home more energy efficient.
College students from around the world took part. The projects they worked on took two-years to complete. On Saturday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu declared the University of Maryland the winners of this round of the decathlon.
The University of Maryland team designed a building that it called
WaterShed. The team said its thought process was inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, and that the primary purpose behind the design of its house was to propose solutions to both water and energy shortages.
According to the DOE:
Their team’s entry was judged the best blend of affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.
En route to the top prize with a score of 951 out of a possible 1,000 points, Maryland took first place in the architecture contest and tied for first in the hot water contest, which requires a daily 15-gallon draw of water in 10 minutes or less for bathing or washing.
They also took second in the market appeal contest, which considers livability, and in the appliances contest, which measures how efficiently they refrigerate food and power washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers.
The DOE said in a blog post on Saturday that its decathlon competition has influenced other countries to start similar competitions.
Europe held a version of the competition last year in Madrid, Spain, and China’s Energy Department is going to organize one next year, with help from Peking University.
