In the fall of 2002, 14 teams from colleges and universities across the United States, including Puerto Rico, competed in the first-ever Build Challenge. The teams assembled a highly energy-efficient village on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from September 19 to 26, 2002.
They competed in 10 contests from September 23 to October 5 that tested architectural and engineering design, energy efficiency, and more. In some contests, teams earned points through the subjective evaluations of the judges. In other contests, teams earned points according to how well they met certain measurable criteria, such as the temperature and relative humidity inside their houses. And in still other contests, the teams were evaluated by a combination of the two methods.
The competition, which was open to the public for more than a week and drew more than 100,000 visitors, gave both the students and visitors to the Mall an opportunity to experience homes that feature cost-effective technologies that meet the energy demands we face today. At the end of the competition, the University of Colorado was the overall winner.