Project in Cleantech

Name: Solar Decathlon China

Location: China

Partners: China National Energy Administration, US Department of Energy, Peking University

Status: Active

Solar Decathlon China

Cazneau is working with the China National Energy Administration, US Department of Energy, Peking University and private sector corporations to host the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon program in China.

Proram Mission and History

The SOLAR DECATHLON Competition enables universities from all over the world to design and build a self-sufﬁcient home, using solar energy as the only energy source and equipped with technologies that permit maximum energy efﬁciency.

These prestigious competitions took place in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2009. The first international competition, SOLAR DECATHLON Europe, was hosted in the Summer of 2010 by the Ministry of Housing and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Madrid, Spain.

The SOLAR DECATHLON Competition has four main purposes:

01. To educate the student participants on the many beneﬁts of renewable energy and energy efﬁciency in building, and to challenge the students to think in new ways about energy and how it impacts on our everyday lives.

02. To raise awareness among the general public on renewable energy and energy efﬁciency and what technologies are available today to help them reduce their energy consumption. The SOLAR DECATHLON is open to the public on certain days and demonstrations, such as a living laboratory where visitors can see these technologies in action also take place. The event serves to encourage all of us to act responsibly when making energy choices.

03. To help get solar energy technologies to the marketplace faster, taking advantage of the interest of the students in research and development into energy efﬁciency and energy production technologies, all this integrated into architectonically attractive to houses.

04. To demonstrate that it is possible to build highly efﬁcient industrialized homes that are sustainable without abandoning comfort, aesthetics and the pleasure of living in them.