Brittany Williams (B.ARCH ’05, M.ARCH ‘07) seems to be drawn to the Solar Decathlon at various levels of involvement and not just here in the U.S., but around the world.
The alumnae and lecturer recently served as a juror for the 2019 Solar Decathlon Europe, which was held in Szentendre, Hungary. Along with four other jurors from Europe and the Middle East, Williams was a member of the jury for the Architecture Contest in the competition between ten teams from 27 universities around Europe. A team comprised of members from 14 French universities took home top honors.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition that challenges student teams to design and build efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy.
Williams has attended six different solar decathlon events throughout her career. As a student, she was a team leader during UMD’s LEAFHouse entry in 2007, which won second place, and was also a faculty advisor for UMD’s first place-winning project, WaterShed in 2011. Additionally, she served as competition manager on the organizing committee for Solar Decathlon China 2013. Unlike previous competitions, said Williams, Solar Decathlon Europe 2019 focused on how teams could demonstrate the retrofit and renovation of existing buildings, an important aspect of sustainability that is applicable around the world.
“Being a juror for Solar Decathlon Europe was an immensely rewarding experience,” she said. “It was fantastic to attend as a juror to see yet another perspective on the competition. I was taken by the variety of solutions and the scale of proposed ideas that all seemed to be achievable.”