Washington, District of Columbia — Eight Canadian universities will be taking part in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2024 Design Challenge.
Created in 2002, the challenge encourages collegiate student teams to create building designs that address issues related to climate resilience, embodied carbon, existing building retrofits, community impact, and more.
The universities who will send teams are Concordia University (Montreal, Que), Queen’s University (Kingston, Ont), UBC (Vancouver, B.C.), UBC-Okanagan (Kelowna, B.C.), Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, B.C.), University of Victoria (Victoria, B.C.), University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ont.) and York University (Toronto, Ont).
Last year, Concordia University placed third in the new causing category, while UBC Okanagan and Thompson Rivers University secured second place in the attached housing category.
“Creating affordable, energy-efficient solutions for buildings nationwide is key to the United States meeting its decarbonization goals,” said Holly Jamesen Carr, Solar Decathlon director. “Hundreds of students from around the world are set to meet this challenge head-on this year as they participate in DOE’s longest-running collegiate competition.”
In total, 105 teams from 93 collegiate institutions will compete to create zero-energy building designs for new or existing buildings.
The competition will see teams competing in one of four categories: single-family housing, attached housing, multi-family buildings, or education buildings. Winners for the challenge are selected from those teams that best blend architecture and engineering with innovation.
Teams competing in the 2024 Design Challenge will present their building designs at a virtual semifinal event in February 2024, and the Solar Decathlon Competition finals event will be held April 19-21, 2024, at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.