Solar Decathlon

"Solar Decathlon" - the somewhat different decathlon

The “Solar Decathlon” has already been held four times in Washington, D.C., and now it is taking place on European soil for the first time, in the Spanish capital Madrid. It is an international student competition with the aim of planning and realising a transportable house measuring 75m² that runs entirely on solar energy. And so it was that 20 student teams from high schools all over the world competed against each other between 18 and 27 June 2010, after their prototype residences had qualified for the “decathlon”.

It was a somewhat different competition, because the buildings had to prove themselves to a jury and the public in ten different disciplines ranging from architectural design, thermal comfort and technical implementation of the energy systems to marketability. Forty students of architecture, civil engineering, machine construction, design and economics from the University of Wuppertal in Germany have been working on the planning and implementation of their European Houses since October 2008. The Energie-Plus-Haus designed by the team is based on the idea of a sustainable building that can work just as well in other locations as it does in that of the competition.

The ability to adapt the building to various climate zones is achieved by the combination of energetically innovative sustainable technology with sophisticated architecture. A functionally open house that is linked with the exterior space and uses pared-down design means to formulate an adaptable, sustainable room concept. The basic structure is developed from two solar- and energetically relevant walls that are simply complemented by the necessary sanitary and climate compact devices by means of a freestanding monolithic spatial structure. The design concept of “solar energy” is formed by individually arranged photovoltaic modules on the southern façade. The modules of the house are constructed so they can be used flexibly and transported with ease.
The “Solar Decathlon Europe 2010” is staged by Spain’s Ministry of Housing Construction in co-operation with the American Department of Energy and the Technical University of Madrid. The project is supported by the German Ministry of Industry and Technology, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and many companies from the world of industry. Dornbracht is also supporting the Team Wuppertal – as it did the winning project by the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) in the last competition.

Prototyp Europäisches Haus – Team Wuppertal
Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Lehrstuhl für Baukonstruktion, Entwerfen und Baustoffkunde
Lehrstuhl für Bauphysik und Technische Gebäudeausrüstung

Armaturen Dornbracht:
Küche: Lot, Zweilochbatterie mit Einzelrosetten inkl. Water Unit (Becken)
Bad: Symetrics Waschtisch-Einhandbatterie, Symetrics Schlauchbrausegarnitur, BigRain Regenpaneel für Deckeneinbau