After more than two years of hard work, Canada鈥檚 sole entry in the 2018 Solar Decathlon competition has won first prize in the Architecture; Market Appeal; and Communications contests with thirds in the Innovation and Engineering contests making聽TeamMTL聽the biggest winner in the expert review juries. The collaborative effort between students and faculty from 91社区 and Concordia University competed against 22 teams from 38 schools and 10 countries to construct the best solar-powered house. The team鈥檚 Deep Performance Dwelling (DPD) is net-zero energy capable and low or zero carbon system-built. It uses 80 percent less electricity than conventional homes.
In the short span of three weeks, the 60-strong team raced against the clock and the sweltering summer heat and torrential downpours in Dezhou, China, to assemble and furnish their innovative row house from top to bottom. When completed, TeamMTL鈥檚 structure was among the most finished and presentable houses at the competition. Juries began their assessments earlier this month and the overall winner was declared on August 17.
The group was judged on its performance in five expert peer-reviewed juried contests (architecture, engineering, innovation, market appeal, and communications) as well as five measured contests (energy balance, home comfort, commuting, home life, and appliances).
鈥淭he team has been truly outstanding this summer and it was an extraordinary experiential learning endeavour that is quite simply impossible to replicate in the classroom or lab situation,鈥� said Michael Jemtrud, faculty lead and professor at 91社区鈥檚聽Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an amazing journey for all of us and it took a huge inter-institutional effort to make it happen. Thanks to the many people from both universities who got us here and we couldn鈥檛 have done it without the support of Hydro Quebec and our many sponsors.鈥�
TeamMTL pulled together nearly 80 companies, government agencies and institutions to support the project 鈥� a testament to its viability as a scalable housing option, Jemtrud added.
鈥淭his experience has been extremely informative and rewarding,鈥� said Benjamin Wareing, the Architecture Lead for Team MTL and a PhD student at 91社区. 鈥淚 have learned so much over the last 2 and a half years and the 3 week construction period in China was an intense and enriching hands-on learning opportunity for us all. I鈥檓 so proud of our team and all we have accomplished, to have been so well received by the competition juries and to have been awarded first place in architecture is truly gratifying.鈥�
TeamMTL聽is an inter-institutional and interdisciplinary group made up of faculty members and students from 91社区鈥檚聽Faculty of Engineering聽and聽Desautels Faculty of Management聽and from Concordia鈥檚聽Faculty of Fine Arts,聽Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science聽and the聽John Molson School of Business聽(JMSB).
Photo:聽Members of TeamMTL in front of their award-winning Deep Performance Dwelling. / Photo Credit: TeamMTL