Germany's Technische Universitat Darmstadt won top honors in the U.S. Department of Energy's 2007 Solar Decathlon competition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Technische Universitat Darmstadt earned 888.45 points out of a possible 1,200 to win the competition, followed by University of Maryland with 872.45 points and Santa Clara University with 860.80 points.
The competition, which concluded on Friday, Oct. 19, brought 20 university-led teams from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain and Germany to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home. Students competed in 10 areas, ranging from architecture, livability and comfort to how well the homes provided energy for space heating and cooling, hot water, lighting and appliances. Technische Universitat Darmstadt also won individual Solar Decathlon honors for Architecture, Energy Balance and Engineering.
During the award ceremonies, Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman announced $4.1 million in funding will be provided to two new regional building technology application centers planned for the University of Central Florida and Washington State University. These centers will serve a total of 17 states by delivering information and training on commercially available energy saving technologies, processes and tools.
