Solar Decathlon Team Wins Fourth Place and Multiple Awards

Students from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TU Munich) took fourth place overall in the 2015 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition in Irvine, California. Over 75 students from seven disciplines were involved on the team's project, "NexusHaus." School of Architecture instructors Petra Liedl, Adam Pyrek, and Michael Garrison were the principal supervisors on the project, with support from Michael Webber of UT Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering, as well as TU Munich's Werner Lang.

Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate a solar house that is affordable, energy-efficient, and innovative. Projects are judged in ten different areas of focus (hence the name "Decathlon"), with points being awarded for each. The team with the most points after ten days of competition wins.

In the areas described above, the NexusHaus team won first place in Energy Balance; second in Affordability; third in Engineering; fourth in Communications; and fifth in Market Appeal. For final scores and standings, please visit www.solardecathlon.gov.