ASHRAE announced the winners of its 2026 Student Design Competition, Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge and Building Energy Quotient Competition. The competitions recognize the outstanding abilities and innovative problem-solving skills of students in HVAC&R, building sciences and engineering.
The 2026 student competition focused on a new building being added to a university campus in Denver, Colorado.
Teams competed in one of four categories:
- HVAC Design Calculations
- HVAC System Selection
- Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design
- Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge
First place in the HVAC Design Calculations category is awarded to Sanika Rajendra Gavhane, Nikita Vaijinath Suryawanshi, Neha Vaijinath Suryawanshi, Pradnya Ashok Mane, Sakshi Sanjay Chaugule and Sakshi Santosh Bhosale of SVERI’s College of Engineering Pandharpur. The team advisors is Dr. Digvijay D. Ronge.
Placing first in the HVAC System Selection category is Tong Chi Ho, Hadi Muhammad Raahim, Chow Ching Mei and Chan Wing Ho of The University of Hong Kong HKU. The team advisor is Dr. Benjamin P. L. Ho.
Receiving first place in the 2026 Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design category are Syahlaisa Afra Amanio, Vine Novia Pakpahan, Laura Mellisa, Fawzaan Dwi Sulistiyanto,Muhammad Djackwan Firdaus and Nadhif Khairu Athallah of Universitas Indonesia. The team advisors are Dr. Miktha Farid Alkadri and Dr. Eng. Arnas Lubis.
In the 2026 Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge, students were asked to design an innovative system for residential applications that rejects heat into domestic hot water and absorbs heat from domestic cold-water systems for space heating and cooling.
First place is awarded to Muhammad Mirza Adhiyarahman, Ahnaf Irbah Hidayat, Rimba Harits Hartanto, Gravin Hotasi Zakharia, Juan Aaron Norata and Muhammad Khairul Anam of the Bandung Institute of Technology. Team advisor is Dr.Eng. Ir. Gea Fardias Mu’min, S.T., M.T.
The project explored HYDEX, which is a modular residential GSHP retrofit that acts as a thermal battery, capturing waste heat from greywater and the heat-pump system, storing it in stratified buffer tanks, and intelligently redirecting it to improve HVAC efficiency and preheat domestic water while reducing energy consumption, operating costs, and carbon emissions.
The Building Energy Quotient Competition takes theory into practice by giving students building energy assessment experience in an operational setting, while working collaboratively with building owners. Students had the opportunity to evaluate and audit building energy consumption for buildings in operation to give the building a Building EQ score using the ASHRAE Building EQ online tools.
First place was awarded to Ivy Exum, Alexander Charbonneau, Tyler Milstead, Ethan Schriner, Hoang Dinh, Tanner Rapp, Keegan Snoozy, Chris Fisher and Nickolas Bozonelos ofUniversity of Washington ASHRAE at UW. The team advisor is Robert S Rushing.
The projects will be recognized during the 2027 ASHRAE Winter Conference, January 23-27, 2027 in Chicago, Ill. The Winter Conference is held in conjunction with the ASHRAE co-sponsored AHR Expo, which will be January 25-27, 2027 at McCormick Place Convention Center.
For a full list of Student Design Competition and Applied Engineering Competition winners (First, Second, Third and Rising Star), please visit the Competitions page on the Student Zone.
