Four Ball State teams were selected as finalist for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge.

Teams competing in the competition work for one or two academic semesters preparing creative solutions for real-world issues in the building industry. Each category awards a first, second, and honorable mention place. This year, our students submitting in the Urban Single-Family category won honorable mention.

The undergraduate and graduate architecture design studios focused on two commercial solutions (an elementary school project and a commercial office development) and three residential solutions (an urban single-family project, an attached housing project, and a mixed-use multifamily development), respectively.

While the student teams tackled a variety issues across very different typologies and scales, they all addressed energy performance, financial feasibility, affordability, resilience, market potential, and comfort. Among many notable strategic community partners, the Englewood Community Development Corporation was instrumental in the effort, serving as a “client” for the purposes of the competition and assisting the students with assessing suitable properties, cost models, and more.

Faculty Mentors:
Daniel Overby, Tom Collins

Adjunct Studio Professors:
Jonathan Hess, Patrick Kestner, and Clete Kunce

Additional Assistance:
Walter Grondzik, Megan Phillippe, and Tarek Mahfouz
Input from architects from Cripe (the ARCH 602 studio corporate sponsor).

ARCH 602 TEAMS:

Attached Housing
Josh Cannaday​, Nathan Conley​, Joanna Daniyam, Elif Ekser, Julie Hong​, Josh Pearson​, Trent Walker​

Mixed-Use Multifamily
Zach Benge​, Drew Fairchild​, Jade Moore, Lawrence Neumann​, Noah Porter​, Zach Rooker​, Deng Yao

ARCH 400 TEAM:

Elementary School
Sabrina Lasley, Ron Olney, Alexandria Biederstedt, Sandra Gofton, Jake White, Luis Olguin, Maria Moore, Ellie Morinville, Kolin Williams, Mark Bila

ARCH 633 consulting students for energy modeling:
Jasmine Stuckey, James Harris