The student team of the Czech Technical University in Prague moved its competition object for the Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 in eight trucks in the second half of May ( https://sde21.eu) from Buštěhrad in the Czech Republic to Wuppertal in Germany. Here, in the final, they will face fifteen other teams from Europe and Asia. The aim of the competition is to propose an effective, sustainable and innovative solution for the construction of residential buildings in urban space. The Czech team comes up with the theme "Reconstruction and extension of student dormitories" and chose Větrník student dormitories in Prague as a model building (more on http://firstlife.cz).
The Czech team dedicated more than a year of preparation to the project, during which it was necessary to prepare the project documentation and gradually submit "homework" to the competition jury. In April of this year, the construction of a competition building took place on the experimental site of the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings in Buštěhrad (ČVUT UCEEB). The students also had to build what they designed, calculated and drew, which was the first such experience for many of them.
The competition object called FIRSTLIFE contains a student room with a bathroom, a common room with a kitchen, while both rooms have access to the balcony, and technical facilities. On the flat vegetated roof of the house, accessible via a metal staircase, there is a relaxing living area with seating under the pergola.
Natural and close to nature construction and insulation materials are preferentially used in the project. The walls in the interior are lined with boards pressed from waste material - beverage cardboard packaging. The house is designed in a passive standard with the use of renewable energy sources (heat pump and photovoltaic application on the shading slats of the pergola).
The peculiarity of the building solution is the fact that it must be disassembled with the possibility of quick assembly into a functional state at a new location - the competition plot - within two weeks. Among other things, the connections of structural elements, electrical installations, health technology and floor heating circuits are adapted to this.
The Czech team working on the project consists of over 40 students from various fields of bachelor's, master's and doctoral studies, mainly from CTU - Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Faculty of Architecture, but also students from Charles University, Czech University of Life Sciences and Vysoké business schools in Prague.
The participation of the Czech student team in the competition was sponsored by the rectors of CTU and Charles University, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the capital city of Prague, the Czech-German Chamber of Commerce and the Czech Chamber of Architects. Significant supporting partners are development and construction companies, suppliers and manufacturers of building elements and other entities.
The decisive attention is now focused on the final of the competition in Wuppertal, which will be accompanied by professional exhibitions, events for experts and the public. The organizers expect more than a hundred thousand visitors here. The CTU competition building was chosen by the organizers for permanent placement in the newly emerging Solar Campus, which will be used for long-term verification of the properties of competition buildings and the promotion of sustainable construction.
Important terms
- Transportation to Wuppertal in 8 trucks: between 5/19 – 5/28
- Construction on the competition site in Wuppertal: 20.5.-2.6.
- Handing over the functional object to the jury: 3. 6.
- Measurement of technical parameters and jury evaluation: from 4.6.
- Ceremony opening of the exhibition for the public: 10.6.
- The exhibition will be open to the public with several breaks from 6/10 to 6/26 (details at https://sde21.eu)
The CTU competition object will be permanently located in the Solar Campus (LivingLab NRW) in Wuppertal for at least three years. It will continue to be accessible to the public and at the same time will be the subject of research works in international cooperation.
