Innovation Contest (100 points)

Innovation Contest Scores

New for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2017, the Innovation Contest encouraged teams to take a thoughtful approach to innovation, rather than being limited solely to off-the-shelf solutions.

Other contests, such as Market Potential, provided further checks and balances to ensure innovative ideas were implemented within market realities.

A jury of industry professionals evaluated each team's approach to innovation, from design to execution, using the following criteria.

• Research
• To what extent did the team use research processes to develop or decide on design solutions?
• How successfully did the team utilize discovery, prototyping, analysis, and collaboration in the design process?


• Sustainability
• How well does the team integrate sustainable design, detail, product, and performance decisions into the competition prototype house?
• To what extent does the team holistically integrate passive strategies, materials selection, life cycle, and local strategies to maximize sustainability?


• Innovation
• To what extent does the design utilize innovations or innovative approaches to satisfy an existing market need or desire?
• To what extent do the innovations have immediate and long-term environmental, social, cultural, and commercial potential?
• To what extent does the team utilize holistic active and passive solutions with regard to the livability of the house?
• To what extent does the design solution utilize new, unique, or atypical technologies that improve upon the status quo?
• To what extent does the team’s approach to innovation relate to the team mission, strategies, or goals?


• Durability and Safety
• To what extent will the innovations endure relative to the anticipated life cycle of the house?
• To what extent do the innovations improve or maintain the safety of occupants of the house?

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