Solar Decathlon Blog - Competition

Passionate about sustainable buildings? Ready to test the skills you’ve learned in the classroom on a real-life project? The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® is ready for your innovative ideas and creativity! Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition that prepares the next generation of building professionals to design and build high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewables.

The Solar Decathlon Competition Guide, 2022 Design Challenge Rules, and 2023 Build Challenge Rules are now available to the public. All collegiate institutions are encouraged to apply to participate in the next edition of Solar Decathlon by October 26, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Team Applications can be submitted for both the Design Challenge and the Build Challenge.

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She learned a lot in the 2017 Design Challenge, and now she helps design condos in Brazil. Hear more about Louisy Spak’s experience in our continuing series.

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Name: Louisy Spak

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2017 Design Challenge (formerly Race to Zero)

University team: Sobrado Solar – Universidade Federal do Paraná

Current organization / employer: Multipla Arquitetura, Nova Arquitetura

Current role: Architect, owner and BIM specialist

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Competitors Represent the Next Generation of Energy-Savvy Architects and Engineers Who Will Build Our Clean Energy Future

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm yesterday joined college students from around the world to announce the winners of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon—a collegiate competition that challenges the next generation of building professionals to design and construct high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewable energy. The 72 competing teams representing 12 countries designed resilient and energy-efficient, homes, schools, offices, and retail spaces; nine of which were constructed and presented in the first-ever Solar Decathlon Virtual Village on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Watch Sunday’s awards ceremony and Secretary Granholm’s remarks HERE.

“Our fight against the climate crisis is a lot like a decathlon, with all kinds of individual contests we need to get through—and we can’t win unless we do well in them all,” said Secretary Granholm. “Today’s decathletes are tomorrow’s architects and engineers who are going to help us achieve President Biden’s ambitious and achievable clean energy goals and build our net-zero future. I can’t wait to see their big ideas come to life in neighborhoods across the country and around the world.”

According to DOE analysis, today buildings account for approximately 74% of electricity use, 39% of total energy use, and 35% of carbon emissions in the United States. There are more than 125 million buildings in the nation that need to be retrofitted in order to achieve the Administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050—which President Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposes to address. The Solar Decathlon supports a key strategy to bring that vision to life, by building a pipeline of energy-savvy workers who are prepared for millions of future jobs in design, construction, retrofitting, weatherization, and more.

The full list of the winners of the 2020 Build Challenge and 2021 Design Challenge is below:

2020 Build Challenge Overall Winners

• 1^st Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 2^nd Place, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario)
• 3^rd Place, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)

2021 Design Challenge Grand Winners

• Commercial Divisions, University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon)
• Residential Divisions, Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois)

2020 Build Challenge Contest Winners

Energy Performance

• 1^st Place, Weber State University (Ogden, Utah)
• 2^nd Place (tie)
  • University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• 3^rd Place, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Champaign County, Illinois)

Engineering

• 1^st Place, Hogeschool Utrecht University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Utrecht, Netherlands)
• 2^nd Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 3^rd Place, Weber State University (Ogden, Utah)

Financial Feasibility & Affordability

• 1^st Place, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario)
• 2^nd Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 3^rd Place, Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)

Resilience

• 1^st Place, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (Valparaíso, Chile)
• 2^nd Place, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario)
• 3^rd Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)

Architecture

• 1^st Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 2^nd Place, Hogeschool Utrecht University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Utrecht, Netherlands)
• 3^rd Place, Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)

Operations

• 1^st Place, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• 2^nd Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 3^rd Place, Hogeschool Utrecht University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Utrecht, Netherlands)

Market Potential

• 1^st Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 2^nd Place, Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)
• 3^rd Place, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario)

Comfort & Environmental Quality

• 1^st Place, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Champaign County, Illinois)
• 2^nd Place, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario)
• 3^rd Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)

Innovation

• 1^st Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)
• 2^nd Place, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• 3^rd Place (tie)
  • University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario)
  • Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (Valparaíso, Chile)

Presentation

• 1^st Place, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• 2^nd Place, Weber State University (Ogden, Utah)
• 3^rd Place, University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado)

2021 Design Challenge Division Winners

Suburban Single-Family Housing Division

• 1^st place, Ferris State University (Big Rapids, Michigan)
• 2^nd place, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Missouri)
• 3^rd place, Appalachian State University (Boone, North Carolina)

Urban Single-Family Housing Division

• 1^st place, Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois)
• 2^nd place, The University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
• 3^rd place, Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)

Attached Housing Division

• 1^st place, Marywood University (Scranton, Pennsylvania)
• 2^nd place, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Mumbai, India)
• 3^rd place, Monash University (Melbourne, Australia)

Mixed-Use Multifamily Building Division

• 1^st place, The University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada)
• 2^nd place, The University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
• 3^rd place, University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, Missouri)

Elementary School Division

• 1^st place, University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon)
• 2^nd place, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)
• 3^rd place, Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)

Office Building Division

• 1^st place, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, Virginia)
• 2^nd place, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)
• 3^rd place, Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

Retail Building Division

• 1^st place, Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, Illinois)
• 2^nd place, Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• 3^rd place, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (India)

About the Solar Decathlon

The Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition that challenges the next generation of building professionals to design and construct high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewable energy, while promoting student innovation, STEM education, and workforce development opportunities in the buildings industry. Since 2002, more than 20,000 students have participated in the Solar Decathlon, many of whom have gone on to become architects, engineers, and researchers. This year’s competition marks the 19th anniversary of the Solar Decathlon.

The Design Challenge is a one- to two-semester, design-only competition, while the Build Challenge is a two-year design-build competition.

Applications for the Solar Decathlon 2022 Design Challenge and 2023 Build Challenge will open this summer. Additional details are available on the Solar Decathlon website.

Today, Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman officially kicked off the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® Competition Event during the Solar Decathlon Opening Celebration.

Students from 72 teams, representing 66 collegiate institutions and 12 countries, are competing for top prizes in the 2020 Build Challenge and 2021 Design Challenge during the Competition Event.

“I was deeply inspired by the ingenuity and perseverance of our Solar Decathlon teams, who have designed and constructed buildings that embody the spirit of innovation we need for a clean energy future,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Speakes-Backman. “These homes are a testament to the incredible skill and resolve of the next generation of building professionals, who share a sense of urgency in tackling the climate crisis and building more sustainable communities.” (more…)

A 100% clean energy economy capable of battling climate change will include a strong foundation of zero energy homes—a house that can produce as much energy as it uses. Such homes don’t have to be bare-bones and uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, in fact. Student-led teams competing in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® Build Challenge are proving they can blend architectural design and engineering excellence with innovation, market potential, building efficiency, and smart energy production, all with the “comforts of home.”

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Save the Date for the Solar Decathlon Competition Event; Virtual Format Opens Participation to Broader Audience

Mark your calendars! The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® will host its rescheduled 2020 Build Challenge and 2021 Design Challenge competition events virtually, from Thursday, April 15 to Sunday, April 18, 2021. This virtual event will feature dynamic team presentations, interactive sessions, and networking opportunities for all collegiate teams in the United States and around the world.

The Build Challenge competition event was previously scheduled to be on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in summer of 2020. The annual Design Challenge competition event is traditionally hosted by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, Colorado.

“While we will miss celebrating the excitement and passion in person, we want to ensure the teams are still given an opportunity to complete this unparalleled and valuable experience,” said Holly Jamesen Carr, director of Solar Decathlon for the Building Technologies Office. “We have seen how this competition has positively impacted the trajectory of many careers and elevated the importance of building efficiency.”

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Architects are really good at a lot of things, but one quality in particular stands out to Eric Weber, an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). He believes that once architects understand the nature of a challenge, they excel at developing thoughtful responses to it. Maybe that is why Weber’s Design + Build students chose to create a home that supports veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for their U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2020 Build Challenge entry, Mojave Bloom.

Team Las Vegas includes four veterans, one service member’s spouse, and Weber himself who is a Desert Storm­ veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. Furthermore, Las Vegas is home to many former service members due to its proximity to Nellis Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center. The mission of finding solutions for the challenges that returning soldiers face not only hit close to home, but really resonated with the team.

The UNLV students on Team Las Vegas developed the Mojave Bloom concept as a
sustainable salute to military veterans.

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For this edition of #SDLivingtheDream we learn about Zach Berzolla, a 2018 Middlebury College team alumnus. He shares with us the work he is doing at MIT, along with key concepts that he has learned for successful building design, from Solar Decathlon. How about that for a doer designer!

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Name: Zach Berzolla

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2018 Design Challenge

University team: Middlebury College

 Current organization / employer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sustainable Design Lab

Current role: Research Assistant/ SMBT Student

How did participation in the Solar Decathlon affect the trajectory of your career?

I knew I was interested in zero energy buildings, but the Solar Decathlon cemented for me that I wanted to make this field my career. Furthermore,  as I started working with the multidisciplinary team I assembled for the Race to Zero, I realized the importance of an integrated design process. This was one of the reasons I ended up at the MIT Sustainable Design Lab for my master’s; the lab is multi-disciplinary and focused on tools and analyses that architects, engineers, and policy-makers can all understand.

 Describe a work outcome, building project or other achievement you are most proud of and how (if) it relates to your experience with Solar Decathlon.

At MIT, I have been working with other members of my lab to make urban building energy modeling tools accessible to every city so that they can make physics-backed decisions on how to meet their emissions reduction goals. Through Solar Decathlon trainings and collaborations, I learned the applied building physics that underlie every building upgrade strategy we propose to meet these emissions reduction goals.

Zach at VERMOD Homes, a project that he sought out, which was inspired by his Solar Decathlon work. He documented improvements to the factory process for their zero-energy manufactured homes.

This month in our #SDLivingtheDream series, you’ll meet Brett Horin, who competed with Illinois Tech in the 2018 Design Challenge and who has gone on to work in energy modeling in the architecture industry, fueled by his experience in the Solar Decathlon.

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Name: Brett Horin

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2018

University team: Illinois Institute of Technology

Current organization / employer: Lamar Johnson Collaborative/Clayco

Current role: Energy Modeler

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Most colleges don’t offer a course that can teach you how to navigate the real world. Sure, classroom learning provides students with a solid technical foundation in their chosen areas of study, but essential professional skills like negotiation, compromise, and flexibility aren’t covered in most textbooks. For the answers to life’s most challenging questions, you need a mentor.

If there were degrees in Real Life Experience, a group of more than 30 students from Weber State University would earn top honors. These students managed to design and build a six-bedroom, 2,450 square foot home that is powered entirely by the sun and can go off grid for three days—or longer—as part of their Solar Decathlon 2020 senior project.

Jeremy Farner, an associate professor of building design and construction at Weber State University, served as the team’s faculty advisor on the project. Now that he has successfully advised two Solar Decathlon Design Challenge competitions and Weber State’s most recent Build Challenge, there is no doubt he has what it takes to mentor the next generation of green building professionals.

Jeremy Farner, fourth from right, stands with students on the Solar Decathlon 2020 Build project team representing the Building Design & Construction, Interior Design, and Construction Management programs in February 2020. Photo by Weber State University

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Meet 2017-2018 Design Challenge alumnus Sean Copeland. From Penn State to Solar Decathlon, this two-time SD veteran has always worked with a passion for building design and environmental preservation. With his current position at Arup, he is able to intersect the two through working on carbon-free building construction in Massachusetts. Learn more about how Sean puts his skills to the test toward the green-building industry.

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Name: Sean Copeland

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2017 and 2018

University team: Penn State University (2017 — Full Circle, 2018 — Ripple)

Current organization / employer: Arup

Current role: Graduate Sustainability Consultant

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Gain a once-in-a-lifetime experience by applying for the next Solar Decathlon Design Challenge and Build Challenge. Photo by Vern Slocum/NREL.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® postponed its 2020 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge from June 2020 to April 16-18, 2021. The event, originally scheduled to be part of the 2020 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, will move from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, where it will coincide with the Solar Decathlon 2021 Design Challenge competition. The 2022 Build Challenge will take place in 2023. (more…)

Our #SDLivingTheDream series continues with a recent alum from the Design Challenge who actually went on to work behind the scenes with the event’s staff, including posting to our social media channels for last month’s completely virtual event.

Amanda Kirkeby working in the lab at NREL on Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) research, an alternative method of power distribution in buildings.

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Name: Amanda Kirkeby

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2018 Design Challenge

University team: Middlebury Zero Energy School Team (Middlebury College)

Current organization / employer: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Current role: Post-graduate intern with the Applied Engineering group (more…)

We’re continuing our special series to highlight alumni of both the Build Challenge and the Design Challenge of Solar Decathlon, and how their experiences with the event have shaped their careers and lives. This time on #SDLivingTheDream, it’s Rodrigo Castro.

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Name: Rodrigo Castro, PhD

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2011

University team: Team Florida (University of Florida)

Current organization / employer: Bionova Ltd.

Current role: Senior LCA Expert

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Due to the recent health concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19), Design Challenge Weekend (April 17–19) will be transitioned to a completely virtual event with a similar schedule. There will be no in-person activities at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory or the adjacent Denver West Marriott hotel.

The revised agenda for the virtual Design Challenge Weekend and an addendum to the Competition Rules outlining changes due to the virtual nature of the event have been posted.

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