During June at the 2010 Solar Decathlon in Europe, teams from around the globe are battling it out to see who has the most efficient solar powered and eco-friendly house. The teams will be graded on their ability to minimise their energy use, innovative architecture and engineering, sustainability, and more.
The Solar Decathlon is a biannual academic competition organised by the US Department of Energy. It involves designing and building an energetically self-sufficient housing prototype, which uses solar energy as its only source of power.
University teams developed a prototype home over the course of two years, which are pre-fabricated and then assembled in the Villa Solar in Madrid, Spain and 18 internationally renowned experts will select the most innovative, efficient and sustainable house.
The initiative of this competition is in line with the goals and priorities set both by the European Union and by the Governments around the world regarding the promotion of and firm commitment to promoting sustainable development and renewable energies, and actively supporting research and innovation in these fields.
In so doing, the competition addresses key issues of global strategic interest, such as the use of efficient energies and improving sustainability conditions in an area as sensitive and important to the economy as the construction sector.
The competition generates and integrates knowledge in areas that are transcendent and vital to our society in the 21st century, and the broad social awareness raised by this event sparked the interest of world-class universities from across the globe.
Click here to take look at the most exciting houses in this year's competition. Could they be the houses of our future?