How Do I Enter?

Your team must download the necessary files for the competition. Also, we request you register your team to participate in the competition.

Register Here
For More Detailed Information about
HVAC System Selection
HVAC System Design
Architectural Design

Your team may also contact the Assistant Manager of Student Activities for more information.

The student design competition follows a prescribed format. The contest’s guidelines provide enough background information to enable the teams to select and/or design the HVAC system for the given building and/or perform the architectural design for the given program. The teams may compete in one or more of the three subcategories: HVAC System Selection, HVAC System Design and Architectural Design.

ASHRAE recommends that the project groups consist of at least two members. However, team members can attend different colleges. Five copies of the all competition entries must be submitted to ASHRAE. Each entry, including drawings, diagrams, calculations, manufacture’s data, must be no longer that 45 pages. The report should include, at a minimum, the following:

• Statement of subcategory criteria and major goals 
• Descriptions of how the design satisfied these criteria and goals 
• Descriptions of how and why the final HVAC system or architectural design was selected 
• Supporting calculations 
• Design drawings and/or schematic diagrams 
• Entries may originate from an undergraduate engineering or architecture curriculum. All team members must be enrolled in an undergraduate program during the semester/term they contribute to the design.
• Projects submitted by graduate students are not eligible.

Computer programs may be used for heating and cooling loads and energy calculations.  A copy of the detailed output for one of the systems, plus a summary for the spaces should be provided with your submission.

It is imperative that the following information be included on the first page of your entry:

• Title of project
• Team members’ names
• Present addresses and telephone numbers
• Permanent addresses and telephone numbers
• Current e-mail addresses
• Students’ status (e.g., junior, senior, etc.)
• Students’ majors
• Date of anticipated graduation
• School name and address
• Faculty advisor’s name, address, telephone number
• Students’ signatures and date
• Faculty advisor’s signature and date

If this information is not included, ASHRAE will have no way of contacting the team members.

What is the Evaluation Time Schedule?

There will be four levels of evaluation. Evaluators at all levels will evaluate the design project reports, not only for content, but also for compliance with the contest rules.

May 9, 2008
Deadline for submitting paper to local ASHRAE Chapter Student Activities Chair. Please forward international entries directly to ASHRAE Assistant Manager of Student Activities, 4370 Peachtree Rd., Building 2, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30319 by May 9, 2008.

May 23, 2008
Deadline for local ASHRAE Chapter to forward the best entry in each category to Student Activities Committee Regional Vice Chair for Student Activities.

May 30, 2008
Deadline for Student Activities Regional Vice Chair for Student Activities to forward the best entry in each category to Society Student Design Project Competition Subcommittee.

June 27, 2008
Society level competition under the direction of the Student Activities Student Project Competition Subcommittee Chair will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category. Please Note: This level of the competition is conducted during Executive Session and is closed to team members and/or faculty advisors. Any violation of this notice can result in a team’s disqualification from the competition.

August 1, 2008
Winners are announced no later than this date. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for each category are selected. Winners are announced.

Permission to Release, Produce and Copyright
By participating in the ASHRAE 2008 Student Design Competition, the student design competition team member grants and assigns to ASHRAE or its agent, the rights, in whole or in part, to release the project. These rights include reproduction, translation and citation. It is understood that ASHRAE does not accept responsibility for any content within the presentation that may be found to be libelous, infringing on copyright or other intellectual property rights, invading individual privacy or to be otherwise unlawful.