Team Austria wins Solar Decathlon 2013

Austrian students from the Vienna University of Technology, the Universities of Applied Sciences in Salzburg and St. Poelten as well as the Austrian Institute of Technology won the 2013 Solar Decathlon competition, the most prestigious and challenging contest of its kind in the world.  

The winning project from Team Austria proved itself in ten categories including architectural design quality, living quality and economic affordability combined with optimal energy efficiency. This was the first time a team from Austria had participated in the U.S. Solar Decathlon. 

Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon is an international competition for university students to advance solar building technologies. From 130 entries submitted by university and college teams from around the world, 20 projects were selected to present their vision and to compete in the Solar Decathlon 2013. All competing projects were fully designed, built, and operated solar-powered houses, which were open to the general public for ten days between October 3 and 13, 2013.

Team Austria’s contribution - the LISI house concept (Living Inspired by Sustainable Innovation) - made it into the final round of the competition, together with just one other team from Europe - the Czech Technical University.

According to Karin Stieldorf, the project leader of Team Austria, the idea and development of the atrium house prototype was driven by the rising global need for compact, affordable, and energy-efficient housing in urban-peripheral environments. She added that: “Over the course of three semesters, Team Austria student teams designed and developed a variety of concepts addressing a range of issues with regards to floor plan layout, interior design, and façade systems. The best ideas were integrated into the final competing project after extensive consultation with experts such as structural engineers, energy consultants, and system manufacturers."

Team Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, the research program ‘Building of Tomorrow’ of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) as well as a number of companies and partners: http://www.solardecathlon.at/sponsors/

The Solar Decathlon 2013 took place from October 3 – 13th, 2013, in Irvine, California.

For more information please visit: 

Solar Decathlon: www.solardecathlon.gov

LISI and Team Austria: www.solardecathlon.at

Master-Program Sustainable Construction: www.nachhaltigesbauen.eu