Solar Decathlon 2012 - Participating Teams

Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 (SDE2012) has selected the 20 participating teams in this solar houses competition, with universities from 15 countries and 4 continents, therefore becoming the most international edition.

Beatriz Corredor, Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Development of Ministry of Public Works stated that "the remarkable increase in both, participating countries, and universities who applied to compete in SDE 2012 edition, shows that Spain has become a focal point in research and use of renewable energy in buildings and energy efficiency implementation in homes. We congratulate the 20 selected teams and hope to see as in the 2010 edition ‘research and development in pure state’".

The following teams will participate in 2012:

• RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY, of Germany (www.rwth-aachen.de)
• UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES KONSTANZ, of Germany (www.htwg-konstanz.de)
• TEAM BRASIL, of Brazil (Formed by Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, http://ufsc.br, y Universidade de Säo Paulo www4.usp.br).
• TONGJI UNIVERSITY, of China (www.tongji.edu.cn)
• TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK, of Denmark (www.dtu.dk)
• AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO, of Egypt (www.aucegypt.edu)
• TEAM ANDALUCÍA, of Spain (Formed by Universidad de Sevilla, www.us.es, Universidad de Granada, www.ugr.es, Universidad de Málaga, www.uma.es, Universidad de Jaén, www.ujaen.es)
• UNIVERSIDAD CEU CARDENAL HERRERA DE VALENCIA, of Spain (www.uch.ceu.es)
• UNIVERSIDAD DEL PAÍS VASCO, EUSKAL HERRIKO UNIBERTSITATEA, of Spain (www.ehu.es)
• UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE CATALUNYA (UPC), of Spain (www.upc.edu)
• TEAM RHÔNE-ALPES lead by ÉCOLE NATIONALE SUPÉRIEURE D´ARCHITECTURE DE GRENOBLE, of France (www.grenoble.archi.fr)
• ARTS ET MÉTIERS PARISTECH BORDEAUX, of France (www.ensam.fr)
• BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS, of Hungary (http://portal.bme.hu)
• TEAM ROME, of Italy (Formed by Università degli studi di Roma TRE www.uniroma3.it and Sapienza Università di Roma, www.uniroma1.it)
• CHIBA UNIVERSITY, of Japan(www.chiba-u.ac.jp)
• NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, of Norway (www.ntnu.edu)
• DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, of Netherlands (www.tudelft.nl)
• UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO, of Portugal (http://sigarra.up.pt)
• LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, of United Kingdom (www.londonmet.ac.uk)
• TEAM BUCHAREST 2012, of Romania (Formed by "Ion Mincu" University of Arhitecture and Urbanism, www.uauim.ro/en, University Politehnica of Bucharest, www.pub.ro, y Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, www.utcb.ro/tuce-en.html)

For the application, the teams had to present their proposal for a self-sufficient house that runs exclusively on solar energy and that they will have to build it in real size in Madrid, in 2012. The participating universities´ solar houses will have to pass ten contests (decathlon): Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Solar Systems, Comfort Conditions, Usage, Communications and Social Media, Industrialization and Market Viability, Innovation and Sustainability. The winning university will be the one that obtains the best accumulated score throughout all the contests.

The objective of this international competition, in addition to generating new knowledge, is to create awareness among the general public on rational use of energy. And also to demonstrate that a more efficient energy use is possible and affordable, if buildings are constructed to avoid losing heat in winter and staying cool in summer, therefore using less heating and air conditioning, utilizing less consuming appliances, and getting the energy needed through renewable sources such as the sun.

Solar Decathlon Europe is organized by the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Development at the Spanish Ministry of Public Works with the collaboration of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the support of the US Department of Energy. In addition, SDE counts with the collaboration of the Madrid City Council and Spanish Energy Saving Energy Agency IDAE, and the sponsorship of Saint-Gobain (main sponsor), Schneider Electric, Rockwool, Kömmerling and FCC.

Further Information:
web: www.sdeurope.org