Solar Decathlon 2002

Special Awards

At the 2002 Solar Decathlon, the organizers, sponsors, and even the public honored some of the teams with the following special awards.

People's Choice

On October 6, 2002, Solar Decathlon visitors cast ballots for their favorite houses. Crowder College was the overall favorite.

Herculean Effort

The University of Puerto Rico received this award for having to ship its home by boat from the island to the mainland.

Solo Solar Fliers

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte received this award for its valiant effort as a small team.

Open Door

Tuskegee University won this award for consistently opening its home to the public, especially children.

Perseverance

The University of Delaware received this award for persevering through a number of unpleasant events, including watching the floor of its house fall off a truck on the way to the event.

Best Logistics Plan

The University of Texas at Austin won this award for providing an excellent, detailed, and realistic plan for assembly and disassembly of its house at the event.

Best Construction Safety Award

For always following safety regulations during assembly, Auburn University received this award.

Engineering Excellence

The University of Colorado at Boulder won this award for receiving the most points from the competition's distinguished panel of engineers.

BP Solar Brand Value Awards

BP Solar-one of the competition's sponsors-presented awards to the teams that best emulated its core values:

• Setting Global Standards—Auburn University
• Looking for New and Better Approaches to Meeting Challenges—University of Virginia
• Creating Breakthrough Solutions—Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The Home Depot Brand Value Awards

The Home Depot—one of the competition's sponsors-presented awards to the teams that best represented its core values:

• Best Use of Home Depot Resources—University of Colorado at Boulder and Crowder College
• Best Customer Service—University of Missouri-Rolla and Rolla Technical Institute for its public house tours
• Good Neighbor—Carnegie Mellon for donating its house to community organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

EDS Awards

EDS-one of the competition's sponsors-recognized teams that overcame specific challenges to ensure connection to the Solar Decathlon Network:

• Best Connections Under the Sun—Crowder College for making the best use of available resources
• Connectivity Challenge—University of Virginia for overcoming with patience and humor the frustration of working in a copper-clad house, which blocked wireless signals.