Student-Led Teams Win Big at Community Energy Innovation Summit

Student-Led Teams Win Big at Community Energy Innovation Summit

Three Teams Win $100,000 for Local Partners at the Community Energy Innovation Summit

Over the past seven months, a select group of college students in Texas and Georgia have been collaborating with local organizations to drive clean energy education and solutions.

On June 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized three of those student-led teams as winners of the IMPACT phase for the Collegiate Track of the American-Made Community Energy Innovation Prize.

The teams-Greener CASA, Georgia Tech Zero Energy Collaborations (GTZEC), and GreenSynergy-earned substantial cash prizes based on their project pitches during the Community Energy Innovation Summit, where each team presented on the impact of their projects to an audience of clean energy experts, community leaders, and members of the American-Made Network. Greener CASA, GTZEC, and GreenSynergy were awarded $45,000, $30,000, and $25,000, respectively.

The Community Energy Innovation Prize, administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, fosters partnerships between college students, clean energy organizations, manufacturing coalitions, and community organizations. The IMPACT phase marked the third and final phase of the prize, which granted a total of $235,000 to student-led teams and their partner communities over the course of the collegiate competition.

Meet the Collegiate Track Winners

Greener CASA, a partnership between the University of Texas at Tyler and Monarca Initiative

This team offered free energy audits to local community members in Tyler, Texas.

"Our goal is to create a collaboration between academia and the community to bring energy audits to low-income families to help them reduce their utility bills," said Professor Nelson Fumo, the team's academic advisor.

Monarca Initiative, the school's community partner, offers English literacy programs to the local Hispanic community. "But why not energy literacy?" Monarca cofounder Lorena Rebagliati said.

Low-income households spend more on their energy costs,as their homes are typically more inefficient and they have fewer upgrade options. To help combat this, Greener CASA provides participating households with free energy audits and energy audit kits that improve weatherization and energy efficiency through simple but effective tools, like LED lightbulbs and caulk.

With their winnings, Greener CASA will help families better understand their energy bills and provide them with funds to cover the change fees for a more cost-effective utility pay plan.

"This prize was the opportunity I was looking for-sometimes you have a good idea, but without the funds, connection, or access, there's nowhere to go," Fumo said.

GTZEC, a collaboration with Westside Future Fund

"Georgia Tech is an anchor institution in Atlanta, but we need to do more for our neighbors," team lead Jackie Zong said.

This team is designing and building the first net-zero-energy homes in West Atlanta, with the goal of making sustainability affordable and replicable. The GTZEC team brings together students in the fields of architecture, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering with the Westside Future Fund, which identifies properties set for demolition and collects materials for reuse in new net-zero homes.

Because many Westside Atlanta residents are facing high energy burdens, rising housing costs, and displacement, the goal of GTZEC is to build 250 affordable homes and apartment units. However, "there is a gap between construction and policy," said Frank Wickstead, the team's academic advisor. "High performance sells faster but not for more money."

To combat the lack of profitability in the local green building space, GTZEC focuses first on improving the building envelope and insulation, which can "cut the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning load in half," Wickstead added, "and now you're in a situation where renewables make sense."

GreenSynergy, a partnership between the University of Texas at Tyler and Houston Community College's Maker Space

Students at the University of Texas at Tyler Houston Engineering Center study clean energy solutions, but they had never focused on the teaching side of sustainability education. They joined with students from Houston Community College to launch a public demonstration project hosted in Houston Community College's Maker Space. Students from the two institutions hosted workshops and events for the community to display technology like solar tracking-solar panels that turn automatically to follow the sun.

"It's easier to spread awareness of renewables when there's something to show," student team lead Muhammad Khan said. "There are many underserved communities in Texas that miss federal funding opportunities and are just working within the norms they know. We want to inspire members of our community to be curious about clean energy."

On joining the summit in Washington, D.C., Khan said, "It's wonderful to think about how we fit into the wider clean energy network."

Following the teams' pitch presentations, representatives from several DOE offices and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discussed the various funding programs and technical assistance programs available, as well as federal tax credits, that are specifically oriented for community-based organizations, local government, and other stakeholder organizations to encourage the competitors to continue their projects. Links to those resources can be found on the Clean Energy Business Network's summit recap. DOE's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Integrated Strategies Office are funding the Community Energy Innovation Prize.

To learn more about similar competitions and to stay up to date on future iterations of the prize, visit the American-Made program and subscribe to the American-Made newsletter.