Sustainable living: Mines wins the 2019 Solar Decathlon Africa

by | Jan 6, 2020 | Inside Mines, Winter 2020 | 0 comments

WHAT: A team of students from Mines and two Moroccan universities won the 2019 Solar Decathlon Africa. The event was the first Solar Decathlon held in Africa and featured 18 teams from around the world, each of which was challenged to design and build, on site, an affordable, solar-powered net-zero-energy model house uniquely adapted to the North African climate and location.

WHO: Inter House, a team made up of students from Mines, Cadi Ayyad University and the National School of Architecture in Marrakech.

WHEN: The competition began on Sept. 13, 2019, and the winners were officially announced on Sept. 27.

WHERE: Ben Guerir, Morocco

THE DETAILS: Judges evaluate the homes in 10 categories— architecture, engineering and construction, market appeal, social awareness, appliances, livability, sustainability, health and comfort, energy balance and innovation.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon began in Washington, D.C., in 2002, and has been held biennially in the U.S. in the years since. The last U.S. competition took place in Denver in 2017, with international competitions having been held in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa over the last two years.

“Mines is so proud of our students for winning the Solar Decathlon Africa and showing off—on a global stage— their incredible leadership skills, problem-solving ability and commitment to sustainability,” said Mines President Paul C. Johnson. “Our students and their partners have notched a victory we intend to celebrate—for Mines and for engineers everywhere answering earth, energy and environment challenges.”

To learn more about this project, check out the Mines Minute video below where student Katie Schneider describes the process of building the house and what made this project unique.