Hon’ble Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, awards Solar Decathlon India design challenge 2022 winners
Solar Decathlon India 2021-22 held an award ceremony for its Net-Zero Building Design annual challenge winners in the august presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Govt. of India and Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. The winners were awarded across divisions of Multi-Family Housing, Single-Family Housing, Educational Building, Office Building, Community Resilience Shelter and On-site Construction Worker Housing. Team Ecocult from RV College of Architecture and RV College of Engineering took home the grand prize. Projects of all winners were showcased to the dignitaries, who commended their work and assured of their continued support. The award ceremony was followed by high tea and networking with other experts of the Industry.
Dr Jitendra Singh in his address said, “The true value of Solar Decathlon India lies in its ability to guide and train students to innovate solutions for existing problems and tie-up with the right industry support to encourage its adoption. India has the opportunity of diversity in topography within its geographical boundaries, I would encourage students to explore and find their domain of expertise. While we try to facilitate a public-private partnership for better alignment of synergies, I want to leave the young leaders with the knowledge of how critical their contribution to climate is, and urge them to continue striving so that we can meet again at India@100.”
Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, in his keynote address, described DST’s leadership role in energy efficiency including support on thermal comfort, low energy cooling, daylighting, passive design, building automation, and intelligent decision support systems. Recognizing the need to build capacity in energy efficiency and climate change, Dr. Chandrasekhar acknowledged the role of Solar Decathlon India in building a culture of innovation in our colleges to benefit the building industry at large.
Prasad Vaidya, Director, Solar Decathlon India said, “The quality of the winners’ work and hard work have assured us that we can build a workforce capable of taking the country towards India’s Panchamrit Sutra for achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). Solar Decathlon India’s mission is to train future generations of building professionals who can implement cutting-edge science and technology. With the 2023-24 batch of Solar Decathlon India, another 1200 students will compete to become future-ready!”