Sustainable Energy Europe Award Competition

Solar Decathlon Europe wins the 2011 prize in the category of "Communication" - one of the most important international sustainable energy awards

Günther Oettinger of the European Commission presents the award.
© Patrick Mascart

"The European Commission grants award of "Communication" to SDE for "providing an excellent learning experience to university students and therefore fostering the research and innovation skills of European youth"

The "Sustainable Energy Europe Award Competition 2011", has awarded in the category of "Communication" Solar Decathlon Europe, the prestigious competition of solar houses, organized by Ministry of Public Works with the collaboration of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. These prizes are organized by the European Commission through the platform of network and communication Sustainable Energy Europe. A total of 309 projects competed in this year's Award Competition, and only 24, four per category were in the final. Categories were: communication, learning, living, producing, consuming and travelling.

The jury, chaired by the MEP Maria da Graça Carvalho, said that Solar Decathlon Europe merits this distinction for:

• " Providing an exsb cellent learning experience to university students and therefore fostering the research and innovation skills of European youth.
• " Showing the psb otential of collaboration between the public sphere and the business world - especially in the task of designing and building sustainable homes with cutting-edge technologies.
• " Csb reating a public space where more than 200,000 people could witness sustainable energy "in action". This has also attracted a great interest from the media.

This prize highlights the important work that SDE carries out on disseminating and educating people in the implementation and use of renewable energy in building, and the need for energy efficient building. Javier Serra, director of SDE and deputy director for Innovation and Quality in Building of Public Works, expressed his satisfaction: "Solar Decathlon Europe not only helps raise awareness among professionals, but it also shows that it is technically and financially possible to achieve the goal of constructing buildings with near zero energy expenditure, as ststed by the European Directive 2020. It has also shown a very strong initiative to present to the public the possibilities of increasing the energy efficiency of houses, and thereby save on the energy bill, through the use of new technologies and renewable energy".

On his part, José Manuel Páez, vice-rector for International Relations of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid said that: "He highlighted the importance of this award "because it recognises our commitment and our work on dissemination and education, both in the university environment, and society in general. It highlights the need for this type of competition between universities to raise awareness among citizens regarding the use of renewable energy sources, attracting young professionals to this new industry, improving awareness of rational use of resources, promoting energy efficiency in our daily life, and achieving the integration of renewable energy sources into buildings".

2012 Solar Decathlon Europe
Solar Decathlon Europe just announced the names of the 20 teams participating in the edition of 2012, from 15 countries (Germany, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom and Romania), making this the most international edition.

SDE being held in Spain shows that Spain has become a focal point in research and use of renewable energy in buildings and energy efficiency implementation in houses. 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 resulting in 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.

Read more about the participating teams on architects24.com:
Solar Decathlon 2012 - Participating Teams

Further Information:
web: www.sdeurope.org