Congratulations to the University of Minnesota’s “Team OptiMN” who won the Department of Energy’s Race to Zero Student Design Competition last month in Golden, Colorado!

The team, led by students Laurel Johnston, Peter Schneider, Cavan Wagg and Collin Coltman, bested 32 other teams from across the country in a competition to create a cost-effective home that uses little to no energy by optimizing energy efficiency and utilizing renewable resources. The team was also overseen by Professor Pat Huelman, who worked alongside MEEA on the development of Minnesota’s new building energy code.

OptiMN’s super efficient Impact Home will be built later this year by a Minneapolis nonprofit.

Congratulations to OptiMN and all the teams who participated in this year’s competition. Full results from the 2015 competition, including OptiMN’s winning presentation, can be found here: http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/2015-results