Engineering Contest (100 points)

Engineering Contest Scores

Solar Decathlon houses are marvels of engineering. For the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2017, a jury of engineers evaluated the engineering design and implementation of each team's house based on the following criteria.

• Approach
• To what extent were unique approaches used to solve engineering design challenges?
• To what extent does the design demonstrate research, multidiscipline collaboration, market-leading technologies, and engineering integration?
• To what extent did the team use energy modeling and analysis to guide design decisions integrated into the competition prototype?


• Design
• How well will house systems and design details function together?
• How well will the home’s envelope and active comfort systems maintain occupant comfort in the permanent site location year-round, including but not limited to: air temperature, humidity, surface temperatures, temperature asymmetries and stratifications?
• How appropriately are energy systems sized for estimated annual performance of the competition prototype house at its target location?


• Efficiency
• To what extent is energy efficiency considered as part of the design?
• How effective, efficient, and successful is the design in its engineering approach?


• Performance
• How well does the design address maintenance, longevity, lifecycle costs, and owner operation?
• What is the extent to which a homeowner will be able to operate the house as the team intended?
• How effectively does the prototype’s envelope design and material specification manage potential issues from moisture, condensation, and mold?


• Documentation
• How accurate, complete, and clear are the competition drawings and specifications?
• To what extent was the energy model created in a professional and accurate manner?
• How effectively did the reviewed deliverables reflect the constructed project and enable the jury to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the design prior to its arrival at the competition site?

For complete information, see the Solar Decathlon 2017 rules. Solar Decathlon teams should always refer to the rules.