Forget the overcast skies, the sun’s been shining on Maryland these days. First, in what one sports commentator called “the most exciting three minutes of baseball,” the Baltimore Orioles deprived the Boston Red Sox of a wild card spot in the baseball playoffs. Then the University of Maryland won the Solar Decathlon 2011 by not blowing a lead that it had held all week. While not as dramatic as the baseball contest, it’s still one for the record books.

“There are lots of tears of joy and relief,” said Maryland’s Architecture Team Leader Leah Davies, on the team blog. “We are all so proud of the thought and hard work put into WaterShed, and really excited that our message was viewed in such a positive way.”

The team’s WaterShed house proposed solutions to both water and energy shortages by capturing storm runoff, filtering pollutants from greywater and minimizing water use. Solar panels, a tight building envelope and efficient mechanical systems “make WaterShed less thirsty for fossil fuels than standard homes,” said the team website.

“Maryland is a well-experienced team. After taking second place in 2007, they rested and regrouped in 2009 and came to West Potomac Park in 2011 focused and determined to win,” said Solar Decathlon Director Richard King in a blog post. “In addition, Maryland’s Watershed is a beautiful house, judged first place in Architecture, which also performed impeccably in measured contests. This team mastered their strategies to ensure they excelled in all 10 contests.”

Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon is held every two years. Purdue University took second place in the competition and New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) placed third. Appalachian State University won the People’s Choice award.