The University of Nottingham is to represent Britain in an international competition to design, build and test drive Europe's most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient, zero carbon, solar-powered house.
A team of architecture and engineering students from the Department of the Built Environment are taking on 18 universities from across the world in the very first Solar Decathlon Europe which will be staged in Madrid between June 18 and 27 2010.
Britain's entry — The Nottingham HOUSE — is a full scale highly marketable, zero carbon starter home. It will showcase the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design. Built in partnership with the construction materials company Saint-Gobain, it will demonstrate how low energy architecture can lend itself to the mass market. The L-shaped design is so versatile it can be worked in terraces, rows or stacked as apartments.
