US college Virginia Tech’s entry in Solar Decathlon Europe has won a 10-day competition in Madrid, Spain.
After being inspected in different categories each day, the solar house - designed and originally constructed on the Universoty's Blacksburg campus - was declared the most efficient structure in the decathlon.
During the competition, 17 solar houses from seven countries on three continents were judged in 10 different categories.
The Virginia Tech Lumenhaus placed in almost all the categories, including tying for first in Architecture, placing second in Communication and Social Awareness and placing third in both Industrialisation and Market Viability and in Lighting.
A team of faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from four Virginia Tech colleges — the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, the College of Engineering, the Pamplin College of Business and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences - designed and built the solar house.
It was inspired by Miles Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth house and allows occupants space to interact with each other and with the environment outside.
