Solar Decathlon Design Challenge

The Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, formerly called Race to Zero, is an annual competition open to students from collegiate institutions worldwide. The competition encourages students to work with builders, developers, community leaders, and other industry partners to meet stringent design requirements and create marketable, affordable concepts. Teams compete in a range of residential and commercial project types. Jurors evaluate projects in ten contest categories: Energy Performance; Engineering; Financial Feasibility & Affordability; Resilience; Architecture; Operations; Market Potential; Comfort & Environmental Quality; Innovation; Presentation.

Sixteen Miami students from architecture and mechanical engineering majors collaborated in the 2019 Race to Zero competition studio. The studio fielded two teams in the first phase of the competition. In February, their progress entries were selected to be among the 48 finalist teams representing 34 institutions from the U.S. and internationally. The Miami students presented their final proposals at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) April 13-14 in Golden, Colorado. Miami's team won top awards in their divisions: Elementary School team - 1st Place; Attached Housing team - Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement.