Renderings from a selection of Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge finalist teams.
Graphic by NREL
Fifty-seven teams from 63 collegiate institutions have earned a spot in the final stage of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2023 Design Challenge.
“Solar Decathlon has pioneered energy efficient building designs for more than two decades; this year’s finalist teams showed there is always room to push the envelope on zero energy buildings,” said Rachel Romero, Design Challenge competition manager.
Finalist teams were selected at the Semifinal Competition Event, held virtually February 24–25, 2023. Teams presented their zero energy building designs to a panel of industry experts and finalists were selected based on their innovations, technical plans, and the quality of their presentations.
The competition includes residential and commercial designs in six different divisions: New Housing, Retrofit Housing, Attached Housing, Multifamily Building, Office Building, and Education Building. Up to 10 teams were selected in each of the contest divisions.
Finalist teams will compete to win their division, and possibly become one of two overall grand winners, at the hybrid Solar Decathlon Competition Event, April 20–23, 2023, in Golden, Colorado, at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The event will also include virtual participation options, networking sessions, and the announcement of the 2023 Build Challenge winners.
“As the premier sponsor for Solar Decathlon this year, we are thrilled to honor the finalist teams in the Design Challenge,” said Deb Cloutier, chief sustainability officer at Legence. “The experience students gain during this program is foundational to the design of energy-efficient and sustainable buildings in real life—some of our best engineers today are Solar Decathlon graduates.”
Join the awards ceremony livestream on April 23, 2023, 10 a.m. EDT, to see which finalist teams earn the grand prizes this year!
2023 Design Challenge finalist teams by division:
New Housing Division
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina
- Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
- Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom
- Monash University, Clayton, Australia
- The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- The University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire
- University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
- University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
- Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
Retrofit Housing Division
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina
- Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan
- Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois
- Marywood University, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Johnson College, Scranton, Pennsylvania
- The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
- Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Attached Housing Division
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina
- Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, Hanoi, Vietnam
- The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- The University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia; Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia
- Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
Multifamily Building Division
- Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
- Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois
- Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York; Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
- Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
- University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Alexandria, Virginia
Office Building Division
- Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana
- Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois
- Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, India
- Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
- Monash University, Clayton, Australia
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
Education Building Division
- Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana
- Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
- Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- Myongji University, Seoul, South Korea
- Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
- Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
- The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York City, New York
- The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia; British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, British Columbia
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
- University of North Texas, Denton, Texas; Al Hussein Technical University, Amman, Jordan
By Deborah Cloutier, Chief Sustainability Officer, Legence
