The contest concerns the integration and coherent application of the houses’ technical systems. Primarily, it comprises of the design, implementation, and functionality, as well as the safety of building structures, electrical, plumbing and photovoltaic systems; this includes their integration within the overall architecture.
The assembly phase is vital and additionally challenging for this contest. While respecting the Site Operation Plan (timeline, logistic, zoning, waste management, etc.), the Teams have to prove their ability to adhere to their own planning and goals. They prepare a 2-minute summary of continuous webcam recordings to illustrate the constructions.
Teams prove their engineering abilities by displaying the operation of functioning prototype systems as these relate to their original designs and expectations (calculations, reason of choices). This reflects the success of the construction phase. Key aspects are:
The solar systems have to be integrated into the architectural composition and prove to be economically viable. Teams document their production values in Szentendre relating it to international standard requirements from hourly to annual estimates. Teams can score higher if their Solar Thermal Systems can provide more than just domestic water heating, e.g. ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).
The Teams’ innovation qualities are highlighted within the structure, electrical and plumbing systems, and their integration on the facades. The sustainability measures target energy consumption, solid waste production, water use, and construction time in technical but also socio-economic aspects seeking proposals that catalyse a more efficient every-day life cycle.
It is not an easy task to coherently present the ideas and genius implementations of such complex systems! Yet, Teams translate their technical details into comprehensive and exciting stories for all audiences on the future of energy efficient building engineering.
