2023 ASHRAE Student Design Competition Winners Display Energy-Efficient Building Innovations

ASHRAE announced the winners of its 2023 Student Design Competition and Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge. The competitions recognize the exceptional talents and problem-solving skills of students in HVAC&R, building sciences and engineering.

This year’s Student Design Competition focused on the design of a new laboratory building, which consist of a large single-story building with a rooftop penthouse and located in Cairo, Egypt. Total building area is approximately 2,515 m2. As part of the project, new HVAC systems were to be designed for the new laboratory facility. The building consists of a wet bench lab, dry bench lab, research support offices, common area for circulation, secured high-density data center room, penthouse, common reception area, researcher offices, storage, resting pods room and social room.

Teams competed in one of the three categories:

• HVAC Design Calculations
• HVAC System Selection
• Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design

First place in the HVAC Design Calculations category was awarded to Jackson Fritch, John Latta and Clayton Riley of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. David Yuill, Ph.D., P.E., was the team’s advisor. Pete Uhing, P.E., WELL AP and Brian Kolm, P.E. were the team’s industry mentors.

Placing first in the HVAC System Selection category were Lawrence Copestick, Hasan Shwaish, Hitaishi Gopaul, Cian Silaghi and Zain Tariq of the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Craig Wootton was the team’s advisor.

Receiving first place in the Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design category were Thomas Crook, Girish Gudnennavar, Mirza Baig, Alex He and Rodrigo Gonzalez, Loughborough University, Loughborough, England. Dimitris Tseno was the team’s advisor.

In the 2023 Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge, students designed a portable IAQ health meter to detect contaminants in spaces and display the levels of different toxins to the user. The system considered multiple system variables, including space temperature, humidity and contaminant level, as outlined in ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, as well as outdoor conditions and other related IAQ issues.

Lie Kevin Marcellino Gunawan, Andrew Tanuwijaya, Nur Fharhan Al Fariz, Frederick Ebenezer Leonard, Muhammad Maulvi Mirza Chairat and Muhammad Arghy Rafidan from the Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia received first place. Poetro Lebdo Sambegoro MSME., Ph.D. was the team’s advisor.

First place teams in the Net Zero Energy Design and Applied Engineering categories will receive a cash prize of $5,000 in addition to $5,000 for their team to travel to the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference, January 20-24 in Chicago, Illinois. Winners of the HVAC Design Calculations and HVAC System Selections will receive a cash prize of $2,000, as well as funding for a representative from their team to attend the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference. The projects will be recognized during the conference.

For a full list of Student Design Competition and Applied Engineering Competition winners (first, second, third and rising star), visit this page.