20 sustainable projects to Madrid. SOLAR DECATHLON EUROPE 2012

This is the second edition of this international university competition outside the U.S.. Powered by the Ministry of Development in collaboration with UPM, the City Council, the European Union, the IDEA (Institute for Diversification and Saving of Energy) and the Department of Energy U.S. Solar Decathlon Europe is a university competition international research in the field of efficient housing.

The participating teams from 13 countries, built their homes and size during the final phase of the competition each team has to assemble his home in Madrid, in an open to the public we call Solar Village, where all can be visited while facing the ten tests (hence the name "decathlon") that determine which is the winner of the issue. , donde todas ellas pueden ser visitadas, a la vez que se enfrentan a las diez pruebas (de ahí el nombre de “decathlon”) que determinan cuál es la ganadora de la edición.

The Solar Decathlon Family
The Solar Decathlon Europe has its origin in the American competition US DOE Solar Decathlon. The SDEurope was born out of a bilateral agreement between the American and the Spanish governments, after the participation of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in previous editions held in Washington DC. The first competition outside the United States, the  Solar Decathlon Europe 2010, took place in Madrid in June 2010.

A similar agreement has recently resulted in the Solar Decathlon China. The European Edition is held in even years and the American competition in odd years; from its first edition in 2013, SD China will take place with some months of difference from the US DOE Solar Decathlon. The three competitions have similar principles and objectives, but they are independently organized and have some differences regarding regulations and contests, adapting in this way to their own circumstances and contexts.

SDE promoters

The main institution boosting the Solar Decathlon Europe is the Spanish Ministry of Public Works, through the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Development and with the collaboration of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the European Union and the U.S. Department of Energy. The SDEurope competition is also supported by Madrid City Council and the IDAE (Institute for Diversification and Saving of Energy). The sponsors are Saint Gobain Group, as Main Sponsor, and the companies Schneider Electric, Rockwool, Kömmerling and FCC.