UW-Milwaukee’s team placed 20th out of 20 teams at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon last week.

What is the “Solar Decathlon” exactly?

The Solar Decathlon is a competition in which universities and colleges design and build houses that promote energy efficiency without giving up the modern comforts and convenience typically found in a home.

The competition is organized by the U.S. Department of Energy. The decathlon is intended to promote the training of students in the fields of architecture and engineering, raise awareness about energy efficiency, speed research and development of solar technology and create actual working model homes.

The selection process involves an evaluation of different attributes of the proposed home designs. Homes are then selected for the competition.

Eighty schools from around the world entered house concepts. Twenty of these schools were selected to compete. Some schools, such as UWM, entered as solo projects while others worked as part of a team.

Other schools competing included Iowa State, Southern California, Virginia Tech and Puerto Rico. There are also teams representing Germany, Spain and two from Canada.

Energy efficiency sets the standard when judging applicants. The houses are to be “zero-energy.” This means that they are built to be completely self-sustaining.

This is the fourth decathlon held and the first time a team from Wisconsin has competed.

“We’re incredibly proud of Greg and his team…they are competing against some teams that have been in the competition before and some who have two and three times the financial backing,” said Dean Bob Greenstreet, the head of the Architecture and Urban Planning School.

The competition is separated into two parts, each counting for one-half of the total points awarded. The first part is an evaluation of various different elements of the home. These elements included appliances, light design, home entertainment and market viability.

Remaining points are awarded for total power generated by the house.

**The UWM House: Meltwater**

The house built by the students and faculty of UWM, named Meltwater, was named after the glaciers that melted and created the Great Lakes.

Meltwater began two years ago in the architecture studios. Since then, 150 individuals have dedicated thousands of hours to complete the house.

Students and faculty from both the architecture and engineering schools worked on the house. The project was headed by Assistant Professor of Architecture Greg Thompson.

The house is more than just solar panels. A number of innovative building techniques allow for the 775 square ft. structure to be self-sufficient without sacrificing functionality.

In addition to solar panels on the roof, the house has walls with metal doors that automatically move with the sun to regulate the amount of the sun light that comes into contact with the house. There is a rain screen constructed of wooden planks, as well as a computer processor that controls the temperature and humidity in every part of the house.

The counter tops in the home are another “green” application; made from recycled paper, they have the appearance of stone.

Meltwater also includes some space saving features such as a collapsible kitchen island, a fold-up dining table and a TV that swivels between two rooms.

The competition began on Oct. 13. Meltwater was packed-up on flatbed trucks to make the journey to Washington D.C.

Unfortunately, the trip did create some setbacks for the team according to Joe Rice, an architecture graduate student.

“Some sections of the house were too big to take through Indiana. This added nine hours to the trip by driving around Indiana,” Rice said.

The delay in Indiana ate into the UWM team’s setup time for Meltwater.

The decathlon ran through last week, with the winner announced Friday. After the competition, Meltwater will be donated to the Urban Ecology Center.