Past Winners


2022 Final Competition Winners

Alexandra Kahl and Kyra Owensby, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Alka Khadka and Grant Walker, Oklahoma State University

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Samantha Eddy, Xiang Huo, Xinyan Liu, and Xinyang Rui, University of Utah

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Haley Matthews and Aryanna Sanchez, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

The Challenge: Solving Market Adoption for Emerging Efficiency Technologies. The objective of this challenge is to develop an innovative, holistic solution that will increase the accessibility, purchase, installation, and use of energy efficiency technologies in buildings (residential, commercial, new, or existing). This will lead to reductions in energy use and carbon emissions, and fewer inequalities in obtaining new technologies for identified stakeholder groups.

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2022 Challenge Winners

Winners: Tais Mitchell and Jason Talford, University of Idaho

The Challenge: Equal Access to Healthy Indoor Air. The objective of this challenge is to develop a holistic solution to address indoor air quality (IAQ) inequities in the United States. This topic relates to both the technical aspects of IAQ as well as other areas including IAQ-related policy, epidemiology, environmental justice, community economic impact, commercialization, codes and standards, and appropriate metrics development.

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Runners Up: Nishka Chawla and Julia Rios, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

The Challenge: Equal Access to Healthy Indoor Air. The objective of this challenge is to develop a holistic solution to address indoor air quality (IAQ) inequities in the United States. This topic relates to both the technical aspects of IAQ as well as other areas including IAQ-related policy, epidemiology, environmental justice, community economic impact, commercialization, codes and standards, and appropriate metrics development.

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Winners: Carson Bryan, Tyler Elsom, Sachin Gokhale, and Matthew Hyland, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

The Challenge: Solving Market Adoption for Emerging Efficiency Technologies. The objective of this challenge is to develop an innovative, holistic solution that will increase the accessibility, purchase, installation, and use of energy efficiency technologies in buildings (residential, commercial, new, or existing). This will lead to reductions in energy use and carbon emissions, and fewer inequalities in obtaining new technologies for identified stakeholder groups.

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Runners Up: David Mason, Carson Rinkenberger, and Eli Silva, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

The Challenge: Solving Market Adoption for Emerging Efficiency Technologies. The objective of this challenge is to develop an innovative, holistic solution that will increase the accessibility, purchase, installation, and use of energy efficiency technologies in buildings (residential, commercial, new, or existing). This will lead to reductions in energy use and carbon emissions, and fewer inequalities in obtaining new technologies for identified stakeholder groups.

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Winners: Samantha Eddy, Xiang Huo, Xinyan Liu, and Xinyang Rui, University of Utah

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Runners Up: Francisco Diaz-Rodriguez, Jillian Flynn, Alex Holzke, and Ethan Rand, Vanderbilt University

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Honorable Mentions: Natasha Ghezawi, Alexandra Kahl, and Kyra Owensby, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Honorable Mentions: Michelle Chen, Liken Hanato, Michael Le, and Alexis Ng, University of Kansas

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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Honorable Mentions: Anil Singh, Ethan Stroh and Caleb Erlenborn, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

The Challenge: Resilience for All in the Wake of Disaster. The objective of this challenge is to develop holistic solutions to improve the resilience of the built environment, making equity a central focus of the proposed solution by strengthening the ability of communities—especially those that are underserved, marginalized and vulnerable—to adapt, persist, and recover in the event of natural or manmade disruptive events.

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2021 Final Competition Winners

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University logo
Megan Bush, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

The Challenge: Advanced Building Construction Methods. The objective of this challenge is to develop an innovative solution incorporating substantial changes in building materials or construction methods, leading to benefits such as increased productivity and worker safety through reduced construction time, reduced cost and waste, improvements to occupant comfort and health, and reduced energy use.

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Bria Frazier and Zoe Landers, Clark Atlanta University

The Challenge: Advanced Building Construction Methods. The objective of this challenge is to develop an innovative solution incorporating substantial changes in building materials or construction methods, leading to benefits such as increased productivity and worker safety through reduced construction time, reduced cost and waste, improvements to occupant comfort and health, and reduced energy use.

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State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry logo
Trisha Gupta and Vedyun Mishra, Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

The Challenge: Building Energy Audits for Residential or Commercial Buildings. The objective of this challenge is to develop technical solutions to expedite energy audits or develop a simplified, yet effective, energy audit methodology, by finding ways to reduce time and cost compared to current audit practices. In addition to proposing solutions, this challenge also asks teams to demonstrate the proposed energy audit solution on an existing building.

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Sarah Canastra, Georgia Institute of Technology

The Challenge: Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB). The objective of this challenge is to develop conceptual designs that support BTO’s overall GEB strategy in the areas of 1) intelligent algorithms that optimize the operation of building’s active and passive systems to maximize energy efficiency, and 2) whole-building-level interoperable and low cost automation systems that enable communication with building equipment and appliance to optimize operation to provide grid services.

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2021 Challenge Winners

Example of Interface
Sarah Canastra, Hunter Hancock, and Lucas Kiefer, Georgia Institute of Technology

The Challenge: Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB). The objective of this challenge is to develop conceptual designs that support BTO’s overall GEB strategy in the areas of 1) intelligent algorithms that optimize the operation of building’s active and passive systems to maximize energy efficiency, and 2) whole-building-level interoperable and low cost automation systems that enable communication with building equipment and appliance to optimize operation to provide grid services.

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EQuest Output
Gaspar Pedro, John (Hudson) May, and Gordon Stead, University of Georgia

The Challenge: Building Energy Audits for Residential or Commercial Buildings. The objective of this challenge is to develop technical solutions to expedite energy audits or develop a simplified, yet effective, energy audit methodology, by finding ways to reduce time and cost compared to current audit practices. In addition to proposing solutions, this challenge also asks teams to demonstrate the proposed energy audit solution on an existing building.

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Amanda Roff, Emily Kuwaye, and Jaya Alagar, Williams College

The Challenge: Advanced Building Construction Methods. The objective of this challenge is to develop an innovative solution incorporating substantial changes in building materials or construction methods, leading to benefits such as increased productivity and worker safety through reduced construction time, reduced cost and waste, improvements to occupant comfort and health, and reduced energy use.

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2020 Final Competition Winners

Destiny Currie and James Whitfield, Clark Atlanta University

The Challenge: Smart Sensors and Controls for Residential Buildings. The objective of this challenge was to identify a specific community impacted by this problem, describe the stakeholder community and the specific challenges. 

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Kira O'Hare, Katie Earles, Taylor Sparacello and Catherine Moore, Georgia Institute of Technology

The Challenge: Smart Sensors and Controls for Residential Buildings. The objective of this challenge was to identify a specific community impacted by this problem, describe the stakeholder community and the specific challenges. 

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2019 Final Event Winners

cade lawson
Cade Lawson, Economics Undergraduate Student at the Georgia Institute of Technology

The Challenge: Open “What-If” Challenge: Connecting the Right data at the Right Time to Improve Residential Building Performance. The objective of this challenge was to identify and design approaches to influence homeowner decisions to optimize their energy use.

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Sarah Tinsley
Sarah Tinsley, Economics Undergraduate Student at the Georgia Institute of Technology

The Challenge: Open “What-If” Challenge: Connecting the Right data at the Right Time to Improve Residential Building Performance. The objective of this challenge was to identify and design approaches to influence homeowner decisions to optimize their energy use.

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Carl Woodard, Mechcanical Engineering Undergraduate Student

The Challenge: Open “What-If” Challenge: Connecting the Right data at the Right Time to Improve Residential Building Performance. The objective of this challenge was to identify and design approaches to influence homeowner decisions to optimize their energy use.

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