After all the scores have been gathered and added, the Department of Energy today announced that the overall winner of Solar Decathlon 2011 is Maryland for WaterShed. Team Purdue finished in second place with INhome, and Team New Zealand finished in third place with First Light.
Solar Decathlon Director Richard King said, "Maryland's Watershed is a beautiful house, judged first place in Architecture, which also performed impeccably in measured contests. This team mastered their strategies to ensure they excelled in all 10 contests," according to the DOE.
Maryland's WaterShed was consistently in the lead throughout the competition and was particularly popular among the locals and most visitors to the Solar Decathlon.
WaterShed features include a solar thermal wall, green roof, a garden, and edible wall system, together with a modular constructed wetland that helps filter and recycle greywater from the shower, clothes washer, and dishwasher. Inside, WaterShed had two liquid desiccant waterfall systems for humidity control and a home automation system.
[+] More info about the Solar Decathlon in Washington D.C.
Credit: Jim Tetro/U.S. DOE.
