Ladies and gentlemern,
Once again I must begin with one of my patented “Oh what a busy life I lead!” apologies. As I’m sure you can imagine, day-to-day activities at the Solar Decathlon Europe are fairly hectic, and me sitting down and typing merrily away on the laptop when there are visitors to be shown around the H.O.U.S.E would not be taken to kindly. Currently, however, it is siesta time in Madrid, and I’ll take this chance to update you all.
I don’t want to talk too much about the competition, actually, as if you’ve been following the results you’ll know they are not exactly in Nottingham’s favour. This is obviously sorely disappointing to everyone on the team, especially having received little merit in the categories the H.O.U.S.E was specficially designed to win – Industrialisation & Market Viability, for one; and Architecture too, which was stipulated as calling for cheapness, urban density and innovative use of exisiting materials in the design – all key aspects of our proposal. Also gutting was losing out in the Communications awards, which after our large internet and media presence we were confident of high marks in.
But enough comiseration. Even as our team climbs gradually up the leaderboard now that we have our daily water and electric tests fully underway, we can be confident that the H.O.U.S.E has been succesful in its own aims – that the public unanimously agree that our H.O.U.S.E is in fact a comfortable and welcoming home, which they would be both happy to live in and proud to promote its self-sustainable credentials. And that, for us, is what this project has been about – changing people’s perspectives on environmentally conscious housing.
We’ve had some other great times on site too. On Monday evening, we had the honour of hosting VIPs from both the embassy and the Saint Gobain team. With trays of champagne and canapés, and kind words from all parties including our own Mark Gillot, the student body of the team had a chance to relax a little and enjoy the congratulations for the phenomenal work they’d put in to be there.
Tuesday night saw myself and Lucia Milone host the first of our two meals in the H.O.U.S.E this week. Treating guests from teams Grenoble and Berlin to Sat’s delicious menu (hopefully done justice…) and some classic English company, we had the chance to meet these Decathletes in a non-competitive setting, which was refreshing. Conversations in broken English flowed easily over the solar-oven-cooked tomatoes and fantastic slow-cooked pork, and the H.O.U.S.E felt very much like a home as we all revelled in what we were part of.
But last night the real competition took place – the Solar Decathlon World Cup! Meeting on a dusty astroturf a little way from the Villa Solar, fresh from England’s victory in South Africa, a rough and ready team of Nottingham Decathletes assembled to face the challenge from Team Seville. We put up an extremely good fight in what was a very close match, but we couldn’t quite hold back the home side, who finished with a late goal to clinch it 4-3.
…and that’s about it! Tonight, Emily Costain and Chris Dalton serve dinner for more esteemed guests, and we continue to compete in the trials until Sunday. Wish us luck!
Tom