About the BuildingsNEXT Student Design Competition

The U.S. Department of Energy BuildingsNEXT Student Design Competition (formerly known as the Solar Decathlon) is a collegiate competition that prepares the next generation of building professionals to design high-performance buildings powered by renewables. 

The competition has challenged more than 25,000 students to create efficient, affordable buildings powered by renewables, while promoting student innovation, STEM education, and workforce development opportunities in the buildings industry.

The first Build Challenge was held in 2002. The Build Challenge occurred biennially in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2023.

The Race to Zero competition joined the program in 2019 as the Design Challenge. The Design Challenge occurred annually in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 

PURPOSE

One of the U.S. Department of Energy's most successful outreach efforts, the BuildingsNEXT Student Design Competition aims to:

• Provide participating students with unique training that prepares them for the buildings workforce.

• Educate students and the public about the latest technologies and materials in energy efficient design and technologies, smart home solutions, and high-performance buildings.
   

IMPACT

Since 2002, the competition has:

• Involved more than 900 collegiate teams, who pursued a multidisciplinary approach to study the requirements for designing and building high performance apartments, houses, schools, and office buildings.

• Established a worldwide reputation as a successful educational program and workforce development opportunity for tens of thousands of students.

• Positively impacted more than 25,000 collegiate participants.

• Involved more than 40 countries.

• Expanded to Europe, China, Latin America, Africa, India, and the Middle East to involve hundreds more teams and more than 20,000 participants through 15+ international events.