LISI, Team Austria’s house, was designed to look elegant, simple and inviting. To the untrained eye, it may not look like a high-tech building. „What matters in architecture is the people“, says Karin Stieldorf, the Austrian team leader. „Of course, technology is important too, it has to work perfectly, but we do not show it off.“

The visitors’ attention is not directed to technological devices, cables and sensors, but to simple wooden surfaces. While other teams at the Solar Decathlon use a considerable portion of the building’s space for building equipment and appliances, the size of the engineering room in the Austrian house is quite modest. Most of the other houses have photovoltaics which is clearly visible from the street, LISI’s photovoltaics can only be seen from above. „Using photovoltaics used to be a statement, something to show off. Today, it should be something completely normal, we do not need to display it any more“, says Karin Stieldorf.

Eco-friendly architecture does not need to have „eco“ written all over it – that is what team Austria wants to show. The fact that LISI is a great example of sustainable architecture will be proven by tests and measurements, there is no need for constantly visible reminders. Therefore, the architecture of LISI is more about understatement and simplicity. The visitors at Solar Decathlon seem to enjoy that, we can only hope that the jury likes it too.