A team of 10 fourth-year architecture students from Ball State University’s R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning (ECAP) received an honorable mention award in the U.S. Department of Energy BuildingsNEXT™ Student Design Competition (formerly Solar Decathlon™).

This highly competitive event included 79 teams across four divisions, with four teams per division—16 in total—receiving an honorable mention accolade. Participating teams represented institutions from across the globe, including Australia, South Korea, and Spain.

The competition challenges students to design net-zero energy buildings that generate as much energy on-site as they consume annually, while addressing a comprehensive set of performance criteria encompassing architecture, engineering, health, and environmental impact.

From the onset of the project, the student team must understand the real-world circumstances of the zero-energy housing to be designed, beginning by selecting a specific location, with an assessment of local characteristics including geography, geology, and planning and zoning considerations to provide context for the building design and its relationship to the surrounding community.

The Ball State team submitted a detailed design package and delivered a virtual presentation to a jury of industry experts on a project titled “Nested Neighbors.” The project explored target markets, block development plans, grid interactivity, among other building considerations.