A team of students from Politecnico di Torino and South China University of Technology have won the Solar Decathlon China 2018, a contest that challenges student teams to design and build full-size, solar-powered houses and awards the best ideas from all over the world in the fields of smart and green construction.
The Italian – Chinese “Long Plan” project was awarded for its ability to best fit in with the cities restricted environment and to support numerous single-family modules, dealing with the problem of both urban renewal and urban residence.
The SDC 2018 took place in Dezhou, in the application of such ecological energy-saving construction ideas, Dezhou aims to build the first solar intelligent city in China, integrating smart living and a distributed photovoltaic power system. Through a continuous upstream and downstream extension of the solar energy industry chain, Dezhou will gradually develop into a comfortable, livable, and sustainable “green” city.
In regards to the European market, within a time frame of 3 years, every new building in the European Union must be energy efficient. In setting such an ambitious target, new innovative solutions are required in urban technology to provide comfort and utilities by being both environmentally friendly and affordable.
The development of new materials, stricter regulation and the spreading of eco-energy certification systems, have assisted in promoting the growth of sustainable urban design. There are currently 600 million sq.m. of certified area in over 300 cities around China and the government wants that number to reach 2 billlion sq.m. before 2020.
The margins of intervention are great and lead us to believe that deep changes will take place in order to meet the increasing needs of the people while still respecting the stricter environmental obligations. The need for efficient housing is constantly growing as sustainability is a factor affecting the family budget. Buildings, residential or not, must be new and efficient.
