Lausanne – The Swiss team has won the prestigious Solar Decathlon 2017 competition with their solar community house, the NeighborHub. The team came in first place in six of the ten contests.
After ten contests held over a nine-day stretch in Denver,
Colorado, the Swiss team was crowned this year’s
winner of the Solar Decathlon competition. The
team came in first place in six of the ten contests (architecture,
water management, health and comfort, home life, energy, and
engineering) and was awarded second place in appliances and third
place in communications. Overall, it won the competition with a
lead of 50 points. “Such a big gap is rare!” Linda Silverman, Solar
Decathlon 2017 director, is quoted as saying.
The team took a risk with their solar community house, the
NeighborHub. Unlike the other teams that proposed a family home,
the Swiss team designed a shared space that helps build and sustain
the community around it.
“By demonstrating innovative solutions and providing a space
to collaborate, NeighborHub has the potential to support
Switzerland’s urban and energy transition,” according to the
project’s description. Calling it a
multifunctional space that can change to meet the needs of the
community, “this flexibility ensures that, over time, the house
will meet the needs of the greatest number of occupants while using
the least amount of land and facilitating strong connections within
the neighbourhood”.
The team consisted of 250 students – including 44 on the
ground in Denver – from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne (EPFL), the School of Engineering and
Architecture Fribourg (HEIA-FR), the Geneva University of
Art and Design (HEAD), and the University of Fribourg, as well as
150 supervisors from the professional and academic sectors, and
close to 50 sponsors.