The final results of the 2011 Solar Decathlon caught the University of Maryland off guard. After all, the UMD team was only one of 19 competitors assembled on Washington D.C.’s West Potomac Park last week as the Department of Energy sought out this year’s most innovative and practical solar homes.

Schools from around the world were in attendance. National teams like Ohio State, Middlebury College, Tongji University in China and Ghent University in Belgium built modular houses to withstand ten judging categories, from the creativity of their architecture to the efficiency of the homes’ hot water pumps and appliance power grids. The Decathlon was a sustainability endurance race.

Maryland’s overall victories in the architecture, hot water management and energy balance categories