October 20, 2017

The University of California at Berkeley/ University of Denver has won first prize in the appliance competition of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2017. The team’s home, RISE, which stands for Residential, Inviting, Stackable, Efficient, showcased innovative and energy-efficient Beko appliances, including a refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher and compact washer/dryer.

In addition, four of the seven teams sponsored by Beko and its sister company, Blomberg – the University of Maryland, UC Berkeley/U of Denver, the Missouri University of Science & Technology, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham – placed second through fifth respectively in the overall competition behind the winning team from Switzerland.

“Through our sponsorship of the Solar Decathlon, we are honored to support the next generation of energy experts and the advancement of energy-efficient products and designs in American homes,” said Hasan Yardimci, president, Beko US, Inc. “We are also thrilled that the university teams we sponsored were so successful.”

The appliances contest was designed to mimic the appliance use of an average U.S. home. Teams earned points for operating their refrigerator and freezer, washing and drying laundry, simulating cooking tasks and hot showers.

The collegiate competition in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 5-15 challenged the 11 participating university teams to design and build full-size, solar-powered houses. The overall winner was the team that best blended design excellence and smart energy production with innovation, market potential, and energy and water efficiency. Teams also competed for prizes in the architecture, market potential, engineering, communications, innovation, water, health and comfort, appliances, home-life, and energy contests.

Here are the contest results for the Beko- and Blomberg-sponsored homes:

• University of Maryland’s reACT, a prototype for a “house as a kit of parts” design concept, earned second place overall, as well as second place in innovation, fourth place in water contest and appliances, and fifth place in market potential and architecture.
• University of California at Berkeley and University of Denver’s RISE, a stackable solution for urban infill, earned third place overall, first in appliances and second place in health and comfort and homelife.
• Missouri University of Science and Technology’s SILO (Smart Innovative Living Oasis) earned fourth place overall, as well as third place in appliances and innovation, and fourth place in architecture and communications.
• University of Alabama at Birmingham’s surviv(AL) home, with a composite and steel “strong room” that extends below the level of the house’s subfloor, earned fifth place overall, in addition to third place in homelife, and fourth place in health and comfort and market potential.
• Northwestern University’s Enable, an ENergized and AdaptABLE home for retired baby boomers, earned sixth place overall, as well as first in market potential and communication, third in engineering, and fifth in appliances. In addition, the award for Super Awesome House (aka the Kid’s Choice Award) went to Enable.
• Washington University – St. Louis’s single precast concrete structure, intended as a demonstration of integrated advanced building technology, earned tenth place overall, in addition to second place in architecture, third in architecture, fourth in innovation, and fifth in water.
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Daytona State College’s BEACH (Building Efficient, Affordable, and Comfortable Homes) House earned eleventh place overall and third place in market potential.