Retractable floors, solar-paneled louvres surrounding the entire house, a home so efficient that passive heating and cooling could meet the needs of the occupants almost entirely without support from power sources, not to mention the nifty television that turns into a mirror when it’s not wanted. You have to hand it to the Technische Universitat Darmstadt team: theirs was one cool solar home.
Ever since winning the Architecture competition, the first one to be judged in the Decathlon, Germany was clearly a favorite for overall winner, and went on to sweep the Lighting and Engineering contests. They were neck-in-neck at times with second-place winner University of Maryland’s lovely LEAFhouse. Santa Clara’s welcoming, homey design and attention to community earned them a solid third place.
What all 20 teams accomplished in this year’s Solar Decathlon was truly astounding: from the ground up, advised by professionals but planning, managing, and building largely on their own, these students created some of the most technologically advanced, energy efficient, attractive solar-powered homes we’ve yet seen. Congratulations to all the teams. Solar Decathlon 2009 has a hard act to follow.
View the final results here.
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