Winners Solar Decathlon, 2014

Out of 800 decathletes who participated in the international competition, the jury selected the following top-prize winners.-

1st Place/Overall.- "Rhome for Dencity" by Team Rhome (Universitá Degli Studi di Roma TRE).

Team RHOME (Rome & Home) has chosen to study the urban context of the outskirts of Rome. This is where housing, country, archeology and illegal buildings are interwoven. The project revolves around the whole metropolitan area and includes the facets of density, climate change, protection of nature and energy savings. Team RHOME seeks to re-densify and re-qualify the boundaries of the city by reinforcing urban settlements and working on a sustainable mobility solution for the whole metropolitan area. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the sense of belonging of inhabitants by establishing a strong relationship between people and nature while providing buildings with clean active energy systems.

2nd Place.- "Philéas" by Atlantic Challenge (Nantes, France).

Atlantic Challenge takes on a challenge: to upgrade, retrofit and enhance Nantes’ metropolitan area. The concept of a fertile city is at the core which implies the implementation of a fertile network. The goal is to incorporate a farming (fertilizing) activity within the context of city life, working (a new economy), sharing (socio-cultural relationships) and living (densification). In answer to both issues, the project focuses on one huge abandoned building called CAP 44 and its related green area called The Misery’s Quarry, as a living demonstration of the fertile city concept. The famous French engineer and concrete builder Hennebique initially built CAP 44 in 1895 at Nantes Grands Moulins. The building has been used as an agriculture Co-op since the beginning of the 20th century and was turned into an office building in the post-war period.

The CAP 44 building will be reworked and optimized with regard to its lifecycle, space use, energy efficiency and much more; at the same time an educational farm will be raised in the Misery’s Quarry in front of it. This will be the first fertile core network in this vast fertile city program.

3rd Place.- "A Home with a Skin" by Prêt-à-loger (TU Delft, The Netherlands).

The project is called “Prêt-à-Loger”, as in “ready to live”. This is all about solving the conflict between preservation and development, keeping memories and moving forward. The Team from DELFT maintains that old buildings are not just shabby constructions but actually real homes, filled up with the memories and specific rituals of several generations who lived there. The concept is to imagine a house that will be comfortable, eco-friendly and sustainable while making sure that the features satisfy the needs of different generations, most importantly for the elderly. To achieve that, Team Delft has conceived a toolbox with plenty of elements, the main feature being the skin which provides a frame for the entire household. This new skin will include the most common features (power, food, water, light, ventilation and thermal comfort) as well as a user-interface integrated into the skin to allow users to exercise control over their internal environments and stay informed on the status of the house.