Before a packed auditorium today at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, the University of Maryland took first place in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Architecture Contest.

“WaterShed achieves an elegant mix of inspiration, function, and simplicity. It takes our current greatest challenges in the built environment—energy and water—and transforms them into opportunities for spatial beauty and poetry while maintaining livability in every square inch,” said Architecture Contest Juror Michelle Kaufmann.

New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) claimed second place for First Light, its modern interpretation of the traditional New Zealand holiday home, the Kiwi bach.

Appalachian State University received third place for its Solar Homestead, which features outdoor living spaces.

“This year’s teams have managed to raise the bar even higher and have made the job of judging the Architecture Contest extremely difficult for the jury, which tried to find the subtle distinction that separates first from second, and second from third,” Kaufmann said. “The top three projects span the globe; each celebrating its unique regional influences and climatic differences.”

For the Architecture Contest, the jury evaluated the houses on:

• Architectural elements that include the scale and proportion of room and facade features, indoor/outdoor connections, composition and linking of various house elements
• Holistic design, meaning an architectural design that will be comfortable for occupants and compatible with the surrounding environment
• Lighting, assessing the integration and energy efficiency of electrical and natural light
• Inspiration as reflected in a design that inspires and delights Solar Decathlon visitors
• Documentation that includes drawings, a project manual, and an audiovisual architecture presentation that accurately reflect the constructed project on the competition site.

For full scoring details, visit the Architecture Contest scores page.

Carol Anna is the communications manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

Virginia Tech is in first place at Solar Decathlon Europe—and it was judged first in the Architecture contest! What a busy weekend for the Virginia decathletes. They worked their way up from third place on Saturday to take first place Sunday based on solid performance in the measured contests. Lumenhaus has performed almost perfectly so far.

Solar Decathlon Europe visitors explore Virginia Tech’s Lumenhaus.

Over the weekend, the Architecture jury spent a half hour in each of the 17 houses to evaluate their designs. The Architecture contest is worth 120 points—the most of any of the 10 contests. At 9 p.m. on Sunday, the jury announced the first-, second-, and third-place houses. When Virginia Tech was announced as one of the first-place teams, the decathletes jumped for joy in sweet celebration! (So did I!)

The jury announced several ties, including three first-place teams. The Spanish organizers’ press announcement included the following:

Aalto University Finland, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University tie for first place for architecture.

Three universities have achieved the maximum number of points in the Architecture contest and are the winners of this prize. The team from Aalto University Finland and that of Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña together with Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University received their trophies at an award ceremony held at the Villa Solar.

The classification of the Architecture contest is as follows:

For more information, see the Solar Decathlon Europe Web site.

Richard King is the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Throughout the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizers are reporting from Madrid.