Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 was an international university competition focused on sustainable building and living in urban settings. It came to Germany for the first time in 2022, with Wuppertal as its host city. 110
The competition centred on adapting existing buildings and adding housing, reflecting the potential of the existing building stock to support urban energy transition. Student teams developed proposals for sustainable, energy-efficient and socially responsible architecture, then designed, built and operated demonstration homes. The programme included a Design Challenge, covering a building and its urban context, and a Building Challenge in which teams constructed and operated a one- or two-storey housing unit. 2
The official project page describes 18 teams from eleven countries qualifying for the competition. Sixteen fully functional demonstration buildings were presented during the public event, held from 10 to 26 June 2022 in Wuppertal’s Mirke district. 1710 The competition was organised and scientifically accompanied by the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Wuppertal. Project partners included the City of Wuppertal, the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Utopiastadt, Neue Effizienz and WSW Wuppertaler Stadtwerke. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection funded the project. 3
Professor Karsten Voss served as competition director, while Dr Daniel Lorberg was project director. 4 The project’s aim was to advance ideas for sustainable urban development and contribute to the energy transition in cities. 12