Solar Decathlon 2023 Winners Take Zero-Energy Design and Construction to Next Level

Ball State University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and The Cooper Union Named 2023 Build and Design Challenge Winners

May 5, 2023 | By Kelly MacGregor | Contact media relations
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The 2023 winners of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon®, DOE's longest-running student competition, are leading the clean energy revolution by designing and constructing better buildings.

Ball State University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art won the top honors at this year's competition and were announced at the Solar Decathlon Competition Event at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, on April 23, 2023.

The annual collegiate competition 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.

Hundreds of students stand in front of a building with a window cling that reads Transforming Energy Together.
More than 400 students and faculty members came to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory campus for the Solar Decathlon Competition Event on April 20–23, 2023. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

"As we work to build America's clean energy future and implement President Biden's ambitious climate agenda, we need dedicated leaders who are ready to undertake any challenge before them with pride and passion," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, who met with competitors on Friday, April 21. "I was proud to meet so many inspiring students and faculty this past weekend at the Solar Decathlon, each of whom demonstrated the ingenuity and enthusiasm critical to ensuring the benefits of clean energy will be spread far and wide."

Three men look at a scale model of a zero energy housing complex.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David M. Turk talks with a student from Ball State University about the team’s Design Challenge zero-energy scale model. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

Since 2002, more than 40,000 students worldwide have participated in the Solar Decathlon, many of whom have gone on to become architects, engineers, and researchers. The Design Challenge is a one- to two-semester design-only competition, while the Build Challenge is a two-year design-build competition.

Eleven people stand in front of a photo backdrop with the Solar Decathlon logo holding seven trophies.
The winning team of the 2023 Build Challenge, Ball State University, poses with their overall-winner trophy as well as their six individual contest trophies. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

Build Challenge Winners

Four people jumped to their feet and cheered at a banquet table in a ballroom with a crowd behind them.
Ball State University reacts to the announcement that they won the 2023 Build Challenge after dedicating two years to constructing a zero-energy house in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

Teams also receive awards for excellence in specific aspects of building construction and design, including architecture, engineering, market analysis, durability and resilience, embodied environmental impact, integrated performance, occupant experience, comfort and environmental quality, energy performance, and presentation.

See the full list of Build Challenge Contest Winners.

Five people stand in front of a photo backdrop with the Solar Decathlon logo holding two trophies and a certificate.
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art took home the Commercial Grand Winner award in the 2023 Design Challenge. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

Design Challenge Winners

Design Challenge teams compete in the same 10 contests as the Build Challenge teams. But Build Challenge teams develop residential solutions, whereas Design Challenge teams compete in one of six commercial and residential divisions including new housing, retrofit housing, attached housing, multifamily housing, office buildings, and educational buildings. A winning team is named in each division, and from these teams, Residential and Commercial Grand Winners are selected.

University of Minnesota Twin Cities and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art earned the Residential Grand Winner and Commercial Grand Winner titles, respectively, in the 2023 Design Challenge, rising to the top of a talented group of 55 competing teams from around the world.

University of Minnesota Twin Cities created a deep-energy retrofit for a three-story housing structure that aims to preserve the building's historical character while meeting the local need for affordable, durable, and resilient housing. The Cooper Union created an educational building design for the renovation and extension of the New York Harbor School that promotes zero-energy retrofit principles and workforce development opportunities for the community.

See the full list of Design Challenge Division Winners.

Seven people pose in front of a photo backdrop with the Solar Decathlon logo holding two trophies.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities earned the Residential Grand Winner award in the 2023 Design Challenge. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

Richard King Awardees

The Solar Decathlon also selects two alumni for the Richard King award who have made outstanding contributions to Solar Decathlon competitions, competitors, or the wider clean energy transition in honor of the man who founded the Solar Decathlon in 2002. The 2023 Richard King award winners:

  • Sarah Klinetob Lowe, solar program manager at the Clean Energy Center at Penn College, won the 2023 Outstanding Alumni award. After participating in two Build Challenges, Klinetob Lowe has served as a team advisor for nine total Solar Decathlon competition cycles, partnering with housing providers to enhance the lasting community impact of the students' work. She has also developed impactful clean energy programs for students and professionals focused on passive house strategies and solar photovoltaic systems for developing communities.
  • Edoarda Corradi Dell'Acqua, senior lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology, won the 2023 Outstanding Faculty Advisor award. Corradi Dell'Acqua has served as a lead advisor to students participating in the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge for nearly a decade, combining her expertise in both engineering and architecture to mentor students as they learn to design better buildings in several masters-level courses dedicated to the competition.

Additional details about the competition can be found on the Solar Decathlon website.

Tags: Buildings