Team “AquaGreen” from AU won top honors in two separate categories in the 2018 Solar Decathlon competition held in Dubai. AquaGreen took first prize in “Engineering and Construction” and first prize in “Energy Management.”
Established by an agreement between the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and the Department of Energy in the USA, the Solar Decathlon invites students from universities all around the world to design and build a solar, sustainable, zero-CO2 emission, smart house.
AquaGreen’s approach was to design a home that would be suitable for the UAE. They concentrated on solving the most pressing local sustainability problem – air-conditioning energy consumption – using material and technology popular by this country. The system they created resulted in 40-60% conservation of cooling energy in a cement home.