Competition

The 10 contests are based on three guiding principles for the competition.

1 The teams must supply the energy requirements necessary to live and work using only the sunlight shining on their entry – the global solar radiation incident on the house, specifically – during the contests.

2 The houses will exemplify good design principles that will increase the public's awareness of the aesthetic and energy benefits of solar and energy efficiency design strategies and technologies, which in turn will increase the use of these design principles and technologies.

3 The work of the teams, organizers, and sponsors will stimulate accelerated research and development of renewable energy, particularly in the area of building applications.

• The Solar Decathlon organizers have selected the following 10 contests for the 2005 competition. The teams can earn up to 100 points for each contest except Architecture, for which they can earn up to 200 points. Of the 1100 total points possible, 475 points are awarded based on objective performance measurements or task completion, and 625 points are awarded through subjective evaluations by a variety of appropriately selected experts.

• Architecure

  To be architecturally sound, a home's design must not only satisfy human comfort needs, it must also be well organized and visually pleasing both inside and out. The Architecture contest is designed to demonstrate that solar–powered, energy–efficient homes can be designed to meet enduring architectural standards. Although the technologies in these competition houses are relatively new, the classic architectural standards of 'firmness, commodity, and delight' remain the criteria for a successful building. A jury of architects will judge each entry on the overall aesthetics and the successful design and integration of the solar, energy-efficiency, and other technical features of the house. The jury will evaluate the houses early in the week of contests and will not be influenced by the objectively measured performances of the houses.

• Dwelling

  An important objective of the Solar Decathlon is to prove that solar and energy-efficient design and technologies are market ready and belong in the worldÕs diverse neighborhoods today. The Dwelling contest begins, in a sense, where the Architecture contest ends: after the design and construction of the houses are complete and living in them begins. Experts from the building industry (e.g., builders, marketing and design professionals) and representative homeowners will comprise the judging panel for this contest. Judging will take place early in the week of contests and will not be influenced by the objectively measured technical performance of the houses.

• Documentation

  Good design emerges from a process of exploring and evaluating alternatives through drawings, physical and computer–based models, and analyses. The Documentation contest evaluates the production of an imaginative and thorough set of documents from the schematic design, design development, construction, and 'as-built' phases of the Solar Decathlon project. Analyses in the schematic design phase will focus primarily on energy performance. Documents illustrating the construction of the building are required at the design development, construction, and as–built phases. A panel of experts in building energy simulation will judge the energy analyses, and a panel of engineers and the architectural jury will evaluate the as-built drawings. Some evaluations for this contest will take place as the teams' projects develop before fall 2005. The evaluations that occur in fall 2005 will take place early in the week of the contests and will not be influenced by the objectively measured technical performance of the houses.

• Communications

  The Solar Decathlon is a competition and a public event. The Communications contest challenges teams to communicate their experiences in this project to a general audience. Through Web sites and public tours, the teams will share the knowledge they have acquired. Their experiences and their houses will serve as living demonstrations of the viability of solar energy and energy efficiency technologies in the home. Panels of judges with expertise in communications and public relations will award points based on subjective evaluations of the teams' Web sites, house tours, and overall 'branding effectiveness' (the ability to deliver clear and consistent messages and images that represent the teams' missions, visions, goals, and results).

• Comfort Zone

  Well–designed houses provide interior comfort and indoor environmental and air quality through heating, cooling, and humidity controls and ventilation. For this contest the teams will be evaluated objectively on their ability to maintain temperature and relative humidity within prescribed set points. A panel of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning experts will award points for the quality of thermal comfort and good indoor environmental and air quality based on subjective evaluations of each house.

• Appliances

  A house is not a home without kitchen appliances, laundry facilities, and electronics such as personal computers and TV/video players. This contest requires the teams to demonstrate that their houses can provide the necessary energy to effectively operate appliances and electronics. The teams will store food in their refrigerators and freezers, cook a set number of meals, wash dishes, and do laundry during the week of contests. The teams will also be required to operate their personal computers and TV/video players a set number of hours each day. All points for this contest will be awarded based on task completion and objective performance evaluations of the required appliances and electronics.

• Hot Water

  This contest demonstrates that the teams' houses can provide all of the energy necessary to heat water for domestic uses. Teams will receive points for performing tests that simulate the average time and temperature requirements for two showers each day of the contest week. Twice per day, teams will have to deliver 15 gallons (56.8 liters) of hot water [at least 110¼F (43.3¼C)] in no more than 10 minutes. A panel of engineers will also award points based on subjective evaluations of the overall design of the teams' hot water systems.

• Lighting

  Sunlight, moonlight, and electric light all contribute to the livability and environment of a dwelling, inside and out. Lighting systems should be designed to minimize energy use by maximizing the contribution of daylighting and by using controls to minimize the use of electric illumination. This contest evaluates the quantity and quality of the lighting in the houses both day and night. Points will be awarded on a teamÕs ability to provide lighting levels within prescribed set points. These lighting levels will be measured objectively. A panel of lighting designers will award points on the basis of subjective evaluations of the teams' lighting system designs.

• Energy Balance

  This contest demonstrates that the sun can supply the energy necessary for all the daily energy demands of a small household and homebased business. The object is to begin and end the contests with the same amount of energy stored in the electrical storage system to demonstrate that the system functions sustainably. Points will be awarded based on each team's ability to use their solar electric systems to produce as much electrical energy as they require during the contest week.

• Getting Around

  Because the amount of energy households use to meet their personal transportation needs is so significant, this contest is designed to demonstrate that a house itself can be used to provide that energy. The contest evaluates how much 'extra' energy the houses can generate to provide transportation for the teams in street-legal, commercially available electric vehicles, which will be provided by the organizers. Teams will be required to log miles each day of the contest week as they "run errands" just the way we do in our everyday lives. All points for this contest will be awarded based on objective evaluation – the more miles the teams drive, the more points they get.
• Source | 2005 Solar Decathlon Rules and Regulations