The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the new teams and the new location—Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California—for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013.  

Solar Decathlon 2013 teams
The 20 student teams selected to participate in Solar Decathlon 2013 include nine returning teams, 11 new teams, and four international teams. Congratulations go to:

• Arizona State University and The University of New Mexico (Tempe, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• Czech Technical University (Prague, Czech Republic)
• Hampton University and Old Dominion University (Hampton and Norfolk, Virginia)
• Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont)
• Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Missouri)
• Norwich University (Northfield, Vermont)
• Queens University, Carleton University, and Algonquin College (Kingston and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
• Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, California)
• Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology (Los Angeles, California)
• Stanford University (Palo Alto, California)
• Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, New Jersey)
• The Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and American University (Washington, DC)
• The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, North Carolina)
• The University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College (El Paso, Texas)
• University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
• University of Louisville, Ball State University and University of Kentucky (Louisville, Kentucky; Muncie, Indiana; and Lexington, Kentucky)
• University of Nevada Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California)
• Vienna University of Technology (Vienna, Austria)
• West Virginia University (Morgantown, West Virginia).

Conceptual designs submitted by these teams include a range of innovative building technologies such as smart home controls, building-integrated photovoltaics, energy-efficient building-envelope assemblies, and heat-recovery systems.

Solar Decathlon 2013 Location
Solar Decathlon 2013 will be held at the Orange County Great Park—a new event venue noted for its emphasis on sustainability.

Solar Decathlon 2013 will be held at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. (Photo courtesy of the Orange County Great Park Corp.)

The former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, is just south of Los Angeles and within easy driving distance of San Diego. The Orange County Great Park has direct freeway and rail access, making it easily accessible for more than 10 million Southern California residents.

Regularly hosting large-scale community events that accommodate 25,000 visitors per day, the Orange County Great Park is a multi-dimensional venue. It can easily accommodate the 20 Solar Decathlon 2013 competition houses and the special needs of the Solar Decathlon event. It features flexible space, ample visitor parking, existing facilities for large special events, and nearby services for visitors.

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

Appalachian State University won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 People’s Choice Award for its Solar Homestead today. This award gives the public the opportunity to vote for its favorite house. This year, 92,538 votes were cast. The award was announced at a Victory Reception in the solar Village in West Potomac Park—the last official event of Solar Decathlon 2011.

On Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu spoke with Jeffrey Tiller, left, and David Lee, right, members of Appalachian State’s Solar Decathlon team. (Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

“The team’s passion and enthusiasm were contagious,” said Terri Jones, Solar Decathlon Communications Contest official. “The People’s Choice Award is a popular vote, and I believe the Solar Homestead house and team appealed to people on many levels.”

The Solar Homestead is a self-sustaining net zero-energy house inspired by the pioneer spirit of the early settlers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The isolation of early settlers to the Appalachian region fostered a pioneer spirit in those who established self-sustaining living/working compounds on the frontier. The Solar Homestead fuses these values into a highly energy-efficient home, which remains true to these underlying principles by integrating renewable resources and innovative technology into a prototype that is adaptable, self-sufficient, rugged, affordable, and attractive.

As announced earlier this week, Appalachian State also won second place in the Communications Contest and third place in the Architecture Contest. Appalachian State University is located in Boone, North Carolina.

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

With exemplary communications materials, public tours, and website, Middlebury College received first place in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Communications Contest today.

“Middlebury College, this year’s winner of the Communications Contest, is a very authentic team that conveyed the best of New England architecture. This team’s holistic approach to communications was refreshing; they achieved in all aspects of communications—not just in one area,” said Ryan Park, director of business development for REC Solar Inc., who presented the award on behalf of the Communications Contest jurors. “This team made renewable energy technologies familiar to the public, which we believe will help people more easily embrace these technologies. And isn’t that what it’s all about?”

Appalachian State University received second place for its contagious passion and enthusiasm. The jurors felt the team offered the best menu of creatively explained ideas that visitors could take home and implement today.

Winning third place, the University of Maryland presented consistent messaging, strong educational exhibit components, and a compelling story.

The Communications contest jury evaluated:

• Web content quality, appropriateness, and originality
• Video walkthrough information, the accuracy of the representation of the as-built house on the competition site, accessible captioning, clarity of the audio narrative, and creativity
• The quality of onsite graphics, photos, displays, and signage
• The delivery of messages to target audiences and people of all abilities
• The use of innovative methods to engage audiences, including Web site visitors and people waiting to tour a house.

“Some people might wonder why communications is included in a competition to design and build solar houses. It’s important because communication is our tool for educating the greater population about everything we’re working toward with the Solar Decathlon,” said Richard King, Solar Decathlon director. “In fact, communication is the most powerful thing you can do to spread our message across the globe. We’re not going to succeed if people don’t know what we’re doing. We’re here to show our houses and tell our story. Otherwise, there’s no reason to be here.”

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

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

Wowing jurors with its attention to detail, craftsmanship, and unusual energy visualization system, New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) received first place today in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Engineering Contest for its First Light house.

“The New Zealand house was beautifully executed, with extreme attention to detail and craftsmanship and an intuitive tree-ring visualization system, which makes it easy to understand energy use throughout the house,” said Engineering Contest juror Dr. Hunter Fanney, chief of the building energy and environment division of the engineering laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Coming in second place, Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology received praise from the Engineering Jury for its forward-thinking control system with ultimate user interaction and its unique thermal envelope design that uses commercially available materials such as recycled denim.

The University of Tennessee took third place for its Living Light house, which incorporates off-the-shelf technology for heating and cooling equipment. The team also received praise for its vented double-glass façade.

According to Richard King, Solar Decathlon director, the engineering contest is very important to winning the overall competition.

“The key to winning the Solar Decathlon is getting the house to perform well in the measured contests, which account for half of the points available,” King said. “The best-performing house is a well-engineered house, which is why the Engineering Contest is so important.”

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

• Functionality – To ensure the energy and HVAC systems function as intended
• Efficiency – To measure how much energy the house would save over the course of a year relative to using conventional systems
• Innovation – To gauge the design solutions and their true market potential
• Reliability – To assess the systems and how well they operate at a high level of performance
• Documentation – By reviewing drawings, a project manual, and an audiovisual engineering presentation that accurately reflect the project as constructed on the competition site.

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

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

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.