College Teams Building Solar Homes to Compete in Versailles

From June 27 to July 14, twenty international collegiate teams (from 16 countries and 3 continents) will meet in Versailles, France, for Europe’s third biennial Solar Decathlon. Inspired by the original Solar Decathlon, which was created by the U.S. Department of Energy, the European Solar Decathlon challenges each team to design and build a fully functional, energy-independent solar house over the course of 18 months. Each team will assemble its house over an 11-day period, from June 16-27, with subsequent periods for public exhibition (June 28-July 14) and disassembly (July 14-19). Upon its exhibition to the public, each team’s house will be scored out of 1,000 possible points based on how well it performed in 10 categories, including architecture, energy efficiency, sustainability, and communication and social awareness.

Appalachian State University, which has partnered with the University of Angers (France), is one of only two American schools participating in the competition. In the construction of their house, the ASU/UofA partnership—known as Team Réciprocité—has pledged to use “affordable solutions and practical, technological alternatives, such as polyiso insulation, to ensure that [their house], Maison Reciprocity, remains highly sustainable throughout its lifecycle,” said the team’s sponsor, the Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association (PIMA). According to PIMA president Jared Blum, who also chairs EESI’s board, “The use of polyiso as a component in these highly visible, green buildings is a testament to the appreciation of our product’s positive environmental characteristics.”

The full list of teams participating in this summer’s European Solar Decathlon is:

 

United States & France:

● University of Angers / Appalachian State University / TEAM Réciprocité

 

United States & Germany:

● Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University / University of Applied Science Erfurt Fachhochschule Erfurt / TEAM Inside out

 

Chile & France:

● Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María - Valparaiso / University of La Rochelle / TEAM FENIX - UTFSM

 

Germany:

● Berlin University of the Arts/Technical University of Berlin/ TEAM Rooftop

● Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences / TEAM OnTop[7]

 

Netherlands:

● Delft University of Technology / TEAM Delft Versailles 2014 (Prêt-à-Loger)

 

France:

● ENSA Nantes / ESB / Audencia Nantes TEAM Atlantic Challenge

● Universite Paris-Est TEAM UPE

 

Switzerland:

● Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts - School of Engineering and Architecture / TEAM Lucerne-Suisse

 

Denmark:

● Technical University of Denmark / TEAM DTU

 

Japan:

● Chiba University / TEAM Chiba University Japan

 

India:

● Academy of Architecture /Indian Institute of Technology Bombay / TEAM SHUNYA

 

Romania:

● Technical University of civil engineering Bucharest / TEAM Bucharest 2014

 

Costa Rica:

● Costa Rica Institute of Technology - Cartago / TEAM TEC

 

Thailand:

● King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi / TEAM Kmutt

 

Italy:

● Roma Tre University / TEAM Rhome4 DenCity

 

Spain:

● University of Alcalá /TEAM Plateau

● Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya - Barcelona / TEAM Barcelona Tech 2014

 

Taiwan:

● National Chiao Tung University / TEAM NCTU - UNICODE

 

Mexico:

● National Autonomous University of Mexico / TEAM MEXICO