Mines-led team wins 2019 Solar Decathlon Africa

A team of students from Colorado School of Mines and two Moroccan universities are the winners of the 2019 Solar Decathlon Africa.

The winners were officially announced Sept. 27 in Ben Guerir, Morocco, where the two-week collegiate sustainability competition began Sept. 13.

The event was the first Solar Decathlon ever held in Africa and featured 18 teams from around the world, each of which were challenged to design and build on site an affordable, solar-powered net-zero-energy model house uniquely adapted to the North African climate and location.

InterHouse, the winning team, was made up of students from Mines, Cadi Ayyad University and the National School of Architecture in Marrakech.

"Mines is so proud of our students for winning the Solar Decathlon Africa and showing off - on a global stage - their incredible leadership skills, problem-solving ability and commitment to sustainability," said Mines President Paul C. Johnson. "Our students and their partners have notched a victory we intend to celebrate-for Mines and for engineers everywhere answering earth, energy and environment challenges."

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon began in Washington, D.C., in 2002, and has been held biennially in the U.S. in the years since. The last U.S. competition took place in Denver in 2017, with international competitions having been held in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa over the last two years.

Judges evaluate the homes in 10 separate categories - architecture, engineering and construction, market appeal, social awareness, appliances, livability, sustainability, health and comfort, energy balance and innovation. For more information about Solar Decathlon, go to solardecathlon.gov or solardecathlonafrica.com.

Hear from Mines students from the winning team in the video below.

CONTACT
Emilie Rusch, Public Information Specialist, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3361 | erusch@mines.edu
Mark Ramirez, Managing Editor, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3088 | ramirez@mines.edu