Fifty-seven teams from 62 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 Feb. 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!
The U.S. Department of Energy 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 Design Challenge is a one- to two-semester design-only competition, while the Build Challenge is a two-year design-build competition.
The Solar Decathlon has challenged more than 25,000 students to create efficient, affordable buildings powered by renewables, while promoting student innovation, STEM education, and workforce development opportunities in the buildings industry.
Additional details are available on the Solar Decathlon website.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC.