Georgia Tech Wins Solar Decathlon Challenge,
Builds Sustainability in Atlanta Neighborhood
Georgia Tech students are once again winners at the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. The Solar Decathlon at Georgia Tech (SDGT) student group won first place in the single-family housing division of the contest. Their project focused on a real location in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood, “258 Andrew J. Hairston,” designed to blend with the historic neighborhood and be replicable in similar areas.
“This 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home adheres to Vine City's design guidelines, emphasizing sustainability through the use of off-the-shelf products for easy maintenance and operation. This initiative aims to simplify homeownership for first-time buyers in the community, making sustainable living more accessible,” the team explains on their student group page.
The existing house, built in 1930, is deemed unsafe to enter. Their winning project outlines a new home that will have the same footprint as the existing house and engages local residents. In addition to the win, SDGT is committed to helping make their sustainable house plans a reality.
They've raised funds through awards and grants, including a $15,000 grant for DoE Community Energy Innovation Prize for their "Concept Phase”, another $20,000 for their "Progress Phase”, and a Georgia Tech ASHRAE Undergraduate Program Equipment Grant for $5000.
The ASHRAE Atlanta Chapter actively supports and mentors the team, as well as industry professionals from Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC, Energy Vanguard, and Southface Institute. Westside Future Fund provided the lot and most of the construction funding.
“All the funds have gone towards the team's construction of a home they designed for the Solar Decathlon competition,” Frank Wickstead, SDGT’s faculty advisor said.
“This team of soon-to-be architects, civil engineers, and construction professionals are stronger together than when they work in their silos,” he said. “It is a privilege to be the academic advisor to such a bright and innovative group of students.”
Housing SDGT
Pete Choquette (ARCH’00, M.Arch’03, MRED’22) was on the multi-disciplinary team of Georgia Tech students called “English Avenue Yellow Jackets,” which won the Solar Decathlon Grand Prize in 2022.
Since the win and graduating from Tech, Choquette remains dedicated to bringing the English Avenue Yellow Jackets project to fruition. He connects Tech faculty and students, the Energy Policy and Innovation Center, and West Side Atlanta neighborhood stakeholders to implement the project — and even scale it up.
This year Choquette was awarded the Solar Decathlon 2024 Alumni Award for his work toward the transition to a clean energy economy.
Like-minded students from across campus assembled this year to follow Choquette’s example and take on the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge once again. But this time they laid the foundation for continued competitive viability by creating an official Georgia Tech student group to do it. The group is officially based in the School of Building Construction and advised by Wickstead and Erdogmus.
Wickstead said his guidance as a professor of practice adds a practical element to the group’s efforts in the Solar Decathlon.
“While the DOE's Solar Decathlon is looking for an innovative solution for energy production and consumption, it is important that we specify here-and-now technology that is replicable and can be deployed at scale. Our solution is more about how systems work together for exponential results than a silver bullet.”
“I was inspired by this year’s teams and their inclusive vision for the spaces in which we live, learn, work and play, including transformative designs for affordable housing and vulnerable communities,” DoE Building Technologies Office director Mandy Mahoney said in the winners announcement.
SDGT (like Choquette and the English Avenue Yellow Jackets before them) is inspired by the Solar Decathlon’s clean energy mission as well as intent on helping the communities around them. The student group is devoted to community development efforts, using the School’s connections to industry and Georgia Tech research to help the underserved areas of Atlanta’s Westside. They strive to create mutual progress and benefits between their competitive work with the Solar Decathlon and the communities surrounding Georgia Tech’s campus.
Students from any major interested in making Net Zero housing affordable and sustainable are welcome to join SDGT.