The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition is inviting smart buildings fans and stakeholders to vote in the contest's 20th Anniversary People's Choice Award -- for both the Decathlon's Design and Build Challenge categories.
The DOE's Solar Decathlon is billed as a collegiate competition "that has inspired thousands of students worldwide to enter the clean energy workforce since its inception in 2002."
The DOE says the ten contests that are currently form the foundation of competition challenge students to design and build high-performance, low-carbon buildings that mitigate climate change and improve quality of life through greater affordability, resilience and energy efficiency.
The Solar Decathlon's winners "are those teams that best blend architectural and engineering excellence with innovation," as stated by the DOE.
The teams on the 20th Anniversary People's Choice Award ballot represent competition and People's Choice winners from the past 20 years.
Solar Decathlon Build Challenge Candidates on the 20th Anniversary ballot include:
- University of Colorado, Boulder | 2002 Competition Winner
- Crowder College | 2002 People's Choice Winner
- University of Colorado, Denver and Boulder | 2005 Competition Winner
- University of Maryland | 2005 People's Choice Winner
- Technische Universität Darmstadt | 2007 Competition Winner
- University of Maryland | 2007 People's Choice Winner
- Team Germany | 2009 Competition Winner
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette | 2009 People's Choice Winner
- University of Maryland | 2011 Competition Winner
- Appalachian State University | 2011 People's Choice Winner
- Team Austria | 2013 Competition Winner
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte | 2013 People's Choice Winner
- Stevens Institute of Technology | 2015 Competition Winner
- Swiss Team | 2017 Competition Winner
- Netherlands: HU University of Applied Science Utrecht | 2017 People's Choice Winner
- University of Colorado, Boulder | 2020 Competition Winner
- Chile: Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María | 2020 People's Choice Winner
Solar Decathlon Design Challenge Candidates on the 20th Anniversary ballot include:
- State University of New York, Syracuse University, and Onondaga Community College | 2014 Best Single-Family Detached Design
- Ryerson University | 2014 Best Single-Family Attached Design
- University of Minnesota | 2015 Grand Winner
- Prairie View A&M University | 2016 Grand Winner
- Ryerson University and University of Toronto | 2017 Grand Winner
- Prairie View A&M University | 2018 Grand Winner
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 2019 Grand Winner
- University of Oregon | 2020 Grand Winner, Commercial
- Miami University | 2020 Grand Winner, Residential
- University of Oregon | 2021 Grand Winner, Commercial
- Northwestern University | 2021 Grand Winner, Residential
The winning teams will be announced at the competition's 20th Anniversary Celebration event, which will be held concurrently with the Solar Decathlon Competition event, from April 24-26, 2022.
