The competition
Solar Decathlon is a prestigious international competition that challenges twenty university teams from around the world to build and operate solar-powered houses. EPFL will pursue the adventure for the 2017 edition and has integrated a multidisciplinary set of courses into its educational curriculum.
Bachelors and Masters students from across campus are invited to participate in the project that touches on a wide range of fields, from urban issues, architectural expression, and mobility to questions pertaining to communication, innovation, solar technologies, construction methods and materials, lifecycle analysis, the management of resources and waste, home automation systems, comfort, wellbeing, and design.
The project is carried out within the smart living lab experimental activities in collaboration with other Swiss Hautes Ecoles, including the Haute Ecole d’Ingénieurs et Architectes de Fribourg (HEIA-FR) and the Haute École d’art et de design Genève (HEAD) in Geneva.
Professional and industrial partners will bring their expertise and technical support to build a full scale solar prototype in the smart living lab installations in Fribourg. It will constitute one of the first full-scale experimentations of the smart living lab in Fribourg.