A winning burn.
Woodstock Soapstone from New Hampshire was the winner of the $25,000.00 Grand Prize.
See the overall rankings and the judging criteria 
Meet the Judges
John Ackerly (standing) is the Executive Director of the Alliance For Green Heat, who pulled the Wood Stove Challenge together. John and his staff did a fantastic job to make this happen.
Ben Myren of Myren Consulting, an EPA accredited wood stove testing lab in Colville, Washington. Ben was in charge of fueling all of the stoves, and was given the final say by the judges in determining fuel loadings. He worked very, very hard for 5 days.
Judges Tom Butcher and Phil Hopke operating the new German Woehler emissions analyzer, with help from Woehler U.S.A. head Peter Cullen. Tom runs the Brookhaven National Laboratory combustion lab, and Phil is director of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment at Clarkson University.
Judge Ellen Burkhard from NYSERDA in discussion with a rep from ICC, who generously donated the chimneys and (center) Mark Champion. Mark worked with Dr. Dennis Jaasma at Virginia Tech on some of the original landmark wood stove research, and was co-author of the 1992 Crested Butte study, an early field study of EPA certified stoves.
The new TESTO 380 emissions analyzer including particulates. It functions similarly to the Woehler, except that it uses an impactor instead of a filter to capture PM. Two TESTO techs were on hand to maintain the instruments and instruct us in their use. 
There was a full schedule of panel discussions. This one was on Thermal Biomass Policy, with (l. to r.) Michael Freeberg, H.U.D., Chris Rauscher from Senator King’s office, Ned Stowe, Bioenergy consultant, and moderator Joe Seymour, Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) 
Panel on Developing a Green Label for Wood and Pellet Stoves. Left to right: Abigail Daken, EPA Energy Star moderator Rod Tinnemore, Wood Stove Co-Ordinator for the Washington State Department of Ecology Ellen Burkhard, NYSERDA. NYSERDA was the lead sponsor of the Decathlon. 
I moderated a panel on “What Makes Stoves Cleaner and More Efficient ?”, with Karen Elder from Schott-Robax and Allen Carroll, Catalytic Hearth Caucus.
Reception at the Austrian Embassy, DC. Myself and fellow judges Ellen Burkhard, NYSERDA, Bill Clarke, Osprey Foundation, Rebecca Trojanowski, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Phil Hopke, Clarkson University, David Agrell, Popular Mechanics.
Dr. Thomas Stoelzl, Economic Counsellor – Austrian Embassy Dr. Thomas Schiffert, Managing Director of the Austrian Association of Tile Stove Producers Richard Jussel, who designed and built the Austrian Eco-Labelled tile stove (Kachelofen) that was chosen as a contestant in the Decathlon.
Final deliberations in the judges’ tent to determine the rankings. Efficiency and emissions counted for 10 points each, out of a total of 50 points awarded. Other categories were innovation, affordability and consumer appeal.
The Wittus was a favorite among the judges for consumer appeal, with its spectacular downdrafting gasification stage. It tied for second place overall in the final rankings.
Nice first run on the Eco-labelled Austrian Kachelofen, with a new firebox combustion air design. You can see horizontal slots between the courses of firebricks, which is where the air enters. Austrian company Ortner introduced these special bricks to the annual MHA Meeting at a workshop last April.
End of Part 1. Go to Part 2 for more details on the testing.