Solar Decathlon Blog - Design Challenge

Students from the University of Arizona won multiple awards at the 2024 Design Challenge for their partnership with the Hopi Tribe to design the Tawa’ovi Community Development project. Photo: NREL.

Registration is now open for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2025 Design Challenge! In this challenge, interdisciplinary collegiate teams will create efficient, resilient, and sustainable buildings that meet community needs as part of DOE’s longest-running student competition.

Each year, Design Challenge teams compete to create high-performance, low-carbon building designs that address real-world issues such as existing building retrofits, community impacts, affordability, and resilience. Learn more about the competition through the 2024 Design Challenge Recap video.

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Forty teams from 37 collegiate institutions are advancing to the final stage of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon® 2024 Design Challenge based on their cutting-edge, zero energy building designs.

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3 Days Remain! Nominate for the Solar Decathlon Alumni/Faculty Awards by Feb. 1

Only 3 days remain to nominate an outstanding U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® alumni or faculty lead for the Solar Decathlon Awards!

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Students and faculty from the 2023 Design Challenge Howard University team pose with their trophy. (Photo by Vern Slocum, NREL)

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Join the 2024 Design Challenge by October 18, 2023, to compete in, mentor, or judge the international zero energy building design competition.

_{Students from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, present their high-performance building design at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, during the Solar Decathlon 2023 Competition Event.}

Less than four weeks remain to be a part of the 2024 Design Challenge with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^®!

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Are you a student or professor interested in transforming buildings to tackle the climate crisis?

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® is seeking collegiate student participants from diverse majors to join the next round of the zero energy building design competition. Students from collegiate institutions in the United States and around the world are encouraged to form interdisciplinary teams and register!

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One month remains for collegiate teams to register for the next U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® cycle! Change the status quo of the built environment by imagining a zero-energy building of the future as part of the hands-on 2023 Design Challenge.

Register your team today! Registration closes on October 26 at 5 p.m. ET.

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2022 Design Challenge students presenting at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Join us for the Solar Decathlon Kickoff Webinar!

Know what it takes to create a winning team for the Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge? Have questions before your collegiate team starts designing a zero energy building?

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Fifty-five teams representing 38 universities are advancing as finalists in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon^® 2022 Design Challenge.

Finalist teams were chosen based on presentations and design submissions at the semifinal competition event, held virtually February 25–26, 2022. During this event, teams pitched their unique building designs, impressing industry expert jurors with their creativity and ability to tackle the most difficult issues in the built environment.

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Name: Nupoor Kansara

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2020

University team: Illinois Institute of Technology

Current organization / employer: Baumann Consulting

Current role: Energy and commissioning engineer (more…)

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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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 (more…)

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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Sol completed his BASc (Applied Science) at the University of Waterloo in Ontario and his MS at the Georgia Institute of Technology; he is currently pursuing (part-time) his MBA at the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.

In the latest edition of our #SDLivingtheDream series, we introduce Sol Haroon. An alumnus of the 2018 Design Challenge, Sol pushes boundaries in the renewable energy and building design projects he leads, or contributes to as an engineer. Read on to find out more about Sol’s role in creating the largest Living Building in the Southeast!

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Name: Sol Haroon

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: 2018 Design Challenge

University team: Georgia Institute of Technology

Current organization / employer: United Renewables, also pursuing an MBA at Georgia Institute of Technology

Current role: Lead Engineer/Consulting Instructor

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