The Solar Decathlon

BOGOTÁ, D.C. On the 15th of October, Team Heliomet arrived in Bogotá to begin the production, construction and assembly of SOL_ID, their fully functional 1:1 prototype of solar powered sustainable housing which will compete at the Solar Decathlon Latin America & the Caribbean 2015 (SDLAC15). The competition will be held between the 23rd of November and 15th of December 2015, in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

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The Solar Decathlon is an international competition supported by the US Department of Energy where university-industry teams design, build and fully operate sustainable housing solutions powered solely from solar energy. During the final phase of the competition, each team has 10 days to fully assemble their prototype. These prototypes will then be exhibited to the public and evaluated on 10 contests throughout the final 2 weeks. Solar Decathlon is a biannual competition and has been held in America, Europe, and China. This is the first time the competition will be held in Latin American. The sole UK representatives, Team HelioMet is one of 15 teams to have been selected to compete in SDLAC. A collective of students, faculties & industry partners operating out of Unit 4 in the Professional Diploma in Architecture course at The CASS from London Metropolitan University, they collaborate with other institutions, industry partners and experienced consultants. Their line of work is focused on sustainable solutions through innovation in design & materials, implementing an academic approach of group learning and teaching “by doing”. They participated at SD Europe 2012 and SD China 2013 with the RIBA Silver Medal project, SunBloc House. More...