Competition is hot and heavy in Versailles, France,  at the 2014 European Solar Decathlon – the 10 juried contests for the student-designed and -built  solar-powered houses are underway.  News update: two US-European collegiate teams are featured in the New York Times “Home” section (July 3):

Maison Reciprocite seond floor view Courtesy of B. Dudley Carter

Maison Reciprocité — joint effort of Appalachian State University (NC) and the Université d’Angers (France)—is a sustainable rowhouse for urban settings that can be used as infill development or for revitalization corridors. Link to the team

Maquette of Techstyle Haus Courtesy of Brown University

Techstyle Haus  –a three-way collaboration of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Brown University,  and the University of Applied Sciences (Erfurt, Germany) — features a prototype with passive-style elements and a flexible system of solar panels. Link to the team

TechStyle-Haus Courtesy of the Solar Decathlon

Monitor the standings of all 20 teams. Go here

One stop shopping at Green News Update ! Get a thumbnail sketch of all 20 teams, plus links to their web sites, with access to Facebook and Twitter feeds,  monitor the standings in the 10 contests,  plus a direct link to VOTE for your favorite house.  Do it all from here ( Solar Decathlon Part 2)

Want more ? Read Green News Update’s backstory on the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 and profile of  Maison Reciprocité  (Part 1). Read more The Game Is On

The 2014 European Solar Decathlon competition continues  through July 13 when the winning team is announced in the Cité du Soleil created at Versailles, France. Solar Decathlon website

Solar Decathlon Parade Queen looks like a cross between Statue of Liberty and Louis XIV. Courtesy of Maison Reciprocity Team