Beatriz Corredor presenting the project

18.02.2010 - To help this kind of project in Spain, Madrid will be the host for the first edition of Solar Decathlon held outside the United States.  It is an in­ternational competition where around 20 universities take part in designing the most efficient solar home.

The event will take place from the 18th to the 27th of June and 20 homes will be on display which function solely on solar power.  They have been designed and built by students from universities in nine different countries.  The biannual event is also scheduled for Spain in 2012, although the city where it is to be held has not yet been confirmed.

The initiative was presented by the Ministers for Housing, Beatriz Corredor, Industry, Miguel Sebastián, Science and Innovation, Cristina Gar­mendia and Madrid’s mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón.

Many of the projects are designed to be completely self supporting without the need to connect to the communal electricity system.  “They are not prototypes or models, they are finished homes where everything works by solar energy containing advanced installations of domotics (home automation) to operate everything from the washing machine to the computer, including the lights, curtains and air conditioning” affirmed Corredor adding that, “these solutions will soon be adapt­able for everyday living”. The aim of Solar Decathlon is to promote the investigation within universities into the design of energy efficient houses, to make the public aware of the ecological and economic advantages of these technologies and to stimulate the business world to intro­duce solar technology into homes and businesses, whilst supporting innovation and the creation of new patents.

The houses will be built and displayed on a plot of land of over 40,000 square metres next to the River Manzanares and will be judged by a panel of international experts in the sector.  Factors such as use of solar power, CO2 emissions, comfort, communication, sustainability etc. will be taken into account.  There will also be a mobile exhibition all over Spain with models of the houses and workshops for children explaining the advan­tages of the use of sustainable energies. The UK project will be presented by the Univer­sity of Nottingham, there are six Spanish contenders, six Brazilian, four German, two French, two American, two Chinese and one each from Finland and Mexico.


This article appears in the print edition 610 of Island Connections

Gallery: Efficient homes

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