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The Solar Decathlon India (SDI), an annual competition for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Indian academic institutions, concluded its 2024 finals at Infosys’ campus in Mysuru. The event, aimed at fostering the next generation of climate leaders, challenged students to develop innovative, net-zero energy-water, and climate-resilient solutions for India’s building sector.
Event Highlights and Winners The event commenced on May 17, 2024, with student teams presenting their projects to a jury of esteemed professionals. Following the presentations, the Climate Smart Innovation Exhibition showcased products and solutions addressing climate change from innovators in the building industry.
During the exhibition, two companies, Hexpressions Megatech Pvt. Ltd. and VayuJal Technologies Pvt. Ltd., were declared joint winners of the Climate Smart Innovation Award 2024. The jury included notable figures such as Aruna Newton, VP at Infosys; Guruprakash Sastry, AVP at Infosys; and Dr. Chaitali Bhattacharya, Principal Science Officer at IUSSTF.
On May 18, six student teams were recognized as winners across various divisions. Team Genesis from NMIMS’s Balwant Sheth School of Architecture and Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management & Engineering won the Grand Prize for their outstanding and investment-worthy design. The 37 finalist projects were exhibited to an audience of over 800 attendees.
Keynote Speakers and Industry Support Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman and Co-founder of Infosys, and Ms. Gagandeep Bhullar, Founder of SuperHumanRace, delivered inspiring talks to the participants and audience. On the final day, May 19, SDI held a career fair where leading organizations in climate change and net-zero buildings sought to hire the top talents from the competition.
Infosys hosted the event pro bono, ensuring it was entirely carbon neutral. The SDI trophies awarded were carbon negative, highlighting the potential for creative climate change mitigation.
Expert Opinions Prasad Vaidya, Director of Solar Decathlon India, praised the professionalism and creativity of the students, noting their ability to design net-zero buildings surpassing industry standards. Dr. Nisha Mendiratta, Director of IUSSTF, emphasized the importance of industry collaboration and student innovation in addressing climate change. Aromar Revi, Director of IIHS, highlighted the significant impact of net-zero buildings on reducing India’s carbon footprint and operational costs.
Satish Kumar, Founder and President of AEEE, underscored the importance of addressing existing buildings’ resilience to climate change and the innovation shown by students in the residential cooling retrofit category.
Competition Overview Solar Decathlon India, conducted by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) and the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), is supported by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. The 2023-24 challenge saw participation from 175 teams, comprising 2,111 students from 188 institutions, and was supported by 272 faculty mentors. Over 50 organizations offered internship and career opportunities to the finalists.
Division Winners
Multi-Family Housing: Genesis (NMIMS’s Balwant Sheth School of Architecture and Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management & Engineering)
Educational Building: Team NOVA 2.0 (Jamia Millia Islamia)
Office Building: Team AKANKSE (BMS College of Architecture and B.M.S. College of Engineering)
Community Resilience Shelter: Team Ekatvam (SMEF’s Brick School of Architecture and BRACT’s Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology)
Construction Worker Housing: Team Samarthan (SMEF’s Brick School of Architecture and BRACT’s Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology)
Residential Cooling Retrofit: Team Resolution (IES College of Architecture, Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj’s Sharadchandraji Pawar College of Architecture, and Unitedworld Institute of Design) |
