A collegiate competition that promotes the design and building of “high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewables” is noting its 20th anniversary in 2022 in part by opening up voting for the 20th Anniversary People’s Choice Award.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon had its first competition in the fall of 2002 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy said in a press release. Over 100,000 people visited the Solar Decathlon during the 21-day inaugural event.
“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 website said.
The public may vote, through the deadline of April 23, for their favorite award-winning competition house in the 20th Anniversary People’s Choice Award. The award is for both the Design and Build Challenges.
“The People's Choice Award, the unofficial ’11th contest’ of the Solar Decathlon, has always been a crowd favorite. The teams on this ballot represent competition and People's Choice winners from the last 20 years,” the 20th Anniversary People's Choice Award website said. “Winning teams will be announced at the 20th Anniversary Celebration, which will be held concurrently with the Solar Decathlon Competition Event, April 24-26, 2022.”
Approximately 90 finalist teams will compete in the 2022 Design Challenge and the 2023 Build Challenge in the Solar Decathlon Competition Event to be held in April.
“We are honored to celebrate the 20th anniversary with the students, faculty, visitors, volunteers, sponsors, and partners who have built the Solar Decathlon,” Holly Jamesen Carr, director of Solar Decathlon in the Department of Energy Building Technologies Office, said in the press release.
Since the first Solar Decathlon that featured 14 houses, the competition now includes both residential and commercial buildings through the Design and Build Challenges.
