Laura Battaglia and Team Advance to the 2024 DOE Solar Decathlon Design Challenge Finals

Congratulations to the inaugural Solar Decathlon Design Challenge team from VCU! Together with Ben Wong (Graduate Assistant from the Wilder School), Laura Battaglia (VCU Arts Interior Design Assistant Professor) has guided a team of students from across the university in the design of a NetZero + affordable attaching housing scheme that caters to multigenerational families in the Manchester area of Richmond. 

Their thoughtful and efficient design impressed the judges enough to put them in competition with 9 other teams from across the world in the category of ‘Attached Housing’. Professor Battaglia and Ben Wong couldn’t be more proud of their team that had a long shot in this highly competitive building science competition. As Isaac Saneda (4th year, Mechanical Engineering) stated, “We are kind of like a Cinderella Team.”  

Wish them luck as they move on to the final round!