About
The Technical University of Denmark
The team from 2012
Team DTU represents the Technical University of Denmark in the 2014 edition of the international competition Solar Decathlon Europe. It is a multidisciplinary team that combines students from various study backgrounds, such as architectural engineering, sustainability engineering, computer science, strategic management.
Students of Technical University of Denmark, advised by professors and industry partners, formed Team DTU to create an innovative plus-energy house project and participate in an international competition Solar Decathlon Europe 2014. Our mission is to provide energy-efficient solutions for housing issues through integrating design and existing technologies in combination with improved aesthetic appearance and comfort.
Team DTU is participating in the international competition Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 with its project named FOLD. This is a house designed by the students at the Technical University of Denmark with the support from the professors and faculty supervisors, sponsors and other partners. This is a plus-energy house, which means that it produces solar energy both for itself and for the society. FOLD is an innovative solution that brings together energy efficiency, solar energy use and enhanced living comfort.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Participation in Solar Decathlon is a large-scale project requiring much coordination effort. Project Management of Team DTU takes the strategic decisions about the project, keeps control over sponsorships, partnerships and financing, advises students and coordinates supervision of student projects.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Construction of FOLD is an integral part of the project, leading to a necessary part of planning risk prevention. Health and Safety group consolidates information about all the aspects of FOLD construction, analyses potential risks and develops a plan of risk prevention that is communicated to all the team members in a form of a report and workshops.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
FOLD is an innovative concept that represents the shape of a folded rectangular paper – developed by the Architecture and Design group. The group also takes care of all the design aspects inside the house and in its garden.
STRUCTURE & CONSTRUCTION
Planning the construction of FOLD, preparing the structural drawings and working through all the details related to construction are crucial for bringing FOLD to life. Structure and Construction team has prepared the architectural concept of FOLD for realisation.
INSTALLATIONS
FOLD is a smart plus-energy house, enabling the inhabitants to control and tune the indoor climate and various functions of the house according to their preferences. Installations comprise: Control System, Energy and Electrical Equipment, Water and HVAC.
CONTROL SYSTEM
The control system is able to control almost anything in the house. This includes lights, temperature, alarm and windows. To enable these functions, this group developed and implemented the software and control system architecture.
ENERGY AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
Implementing the use of solar energy is one of the core tasks of the competition, and managing the energy use by the electrical equipment in the house is inalienably connected to it. This involves integration of solar (photovoltaic) panels in FOLD, setting up the electrical installations and equipment.
WATER
In the daily use of the house large amounts of clean water are used and subsequently discarded. The main task of the Water group is to develop a sustainable approach to dealing with reusing and recycling the used water, also known as grey water.
HVAC
HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, and is responsible for developing and maintaining the systems in the house that keep the indoor climate comfortable for inhabitants despite the changes in the weather and patterns of use of the house.
SITE OPERATION PLAN
Constructing FOLD involves the detailed planning of managing the construction site efficiently and safely, and planning of the use of equipment for construction, delivery of elements and logistical issues of building the house – these are the tasks performed by the Site Operation Plan group.
COMMUNICATION
Participation in Solar Decathlon is an exciting and challenging process that Team DTU is sharing with all the interested public on our website www.solardecathlon.dk and the social media accounts. We interact with press and sponsors to strengthen our communication and participate in various events.
MARKET VIABILITY
FOLD is a prototype of the house of the future: sustainable, comfortable and aesthetically appealing, which necessarily leads to the assessment of the commercialisation opportunities for it in order to change the way building construction will be seen in the future.
LCA
Lifecycle assessment group develops an overview of environmental impact of FOLD and its construction elements throughout the stages of their use, ensuring the ecological sustainability of the project.
THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK
The Technical University of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is situated to the north from Copenhagen, Denmark.
For almost two centuries DTU has been dedicated to fulfilling the vision of H.C. Ørsted – the father of electromagnetism – who founded the university in 1829 to develop and create value using the natural sciences and the technical sciences to benefit society.
Technical University of Denmark
Today, DTU is ranked as one of the foremost technical universities in Europe, continues to set new records in the number of publications, and persistently increase and develop our partnerships with industry, and assignments accomplished by DTU’s public sector consultancy.
DTU Department of Civil Engineering
DTU Department of Civil Engineering (Danish: DTU Byg) conducts research and education in a wide range of fields, such as Building Design, Structural Engineering, Construction Materials and more. In 2012, a project proposal prepared by students primarily from DTU Civil Engineering, but also representing other departments such as DTU Informatics and DTU Management Engineering, qualified for participation in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 competition. Dean of DTU Martin Vigild is the protector of the project.
DTU is extremely proud to be entering the competition. It is a welcomed opportunity to show what Danish research, industry and know-how can do when it comes to plus-energy buildings and utilising renewable energy sources without compromising on design and the indoor climate.
DTU setting new standards
With the Solar Decathlon project, DTU Civil Engineering is setting new standards for the low-energy buildings of the future. In Denmark, almost half the energy consumed by buildings goes on heating, ventilation, cooling and lighting. In other words, a huge unexploited potential exists for cutting the energy consumption in our buildings through the use of solar energy. To fulfil the EU requirement for all new buildings to be zero-energy by 2020, we must exploit renewable energy sources and further develop low-energy technologies for use by the construction industry.
The Solar Decathlon Europe competition is a chance for DTU students to show that it is crucial for the energy-friendly buildings of the future that building design, indoor climate and energy consumption are addressed as early as possible in the design process.
