Energy District Cup: 2026-2027

Welcome to the Energy District Cup!

WHAT IT IS: The Energy District Cup is a new collegiate competition that challenges multidisciplinary student teams to develop practical, cost-effective energy solutions for a campus or mixed-use district.

Students from engineering, finance, architecture, urban planning, communications, and other disciplines work together to evaluate how buildings use energy and recommend strategies involving energy efficiency and building systems, on-site generation, energy storage, energy management, critical load support, and energy procurement.

HOW IT WORKS: Teams analyze a real-world district use case and develop a proposed energy plan that responds to the district’s goals, needs, and constraints. Students consider technical performance, costs and savings, implementation feasibility, reliability, and stakeholder priorities.

Teams may participate through either a full academic-year competition or a one-semester competition:

• Full academic-year teams evaluate a larger district of approximately five buildings and submit both a progress deliverable and a final deliverable.
• One-semester teams focus on a smaller district of one to three buildings and complete an accelerated final deliverable.
• Teams may work with a district use case provided by the competition or, when eligible, bring their own campus or district use case.

Throughout the competition, students receive training, resources, and opportunities to engage with experts from the National Laboratory of the Rockies and the energy industry. Teams present their final recommendations to a panel of judges and participate in an in-person competition event at the National Laboratory of the Rockies.

Winning teams are selected based on the strength of their technical analysis, financial evaluation, implementation strategy, and ability to communicate a compelling and feasible solution for their district.

WHY JOIN THE ENERGY DISTRICT CUP?

The Energy District Cup helps students explore energy careers, build industry-relevant skills, connect with professionals, and apply classroom learning to real energy challenges.

As competitors, students:

• Gain hands-on experience evaluating building and district energy needs
• Explore multiple technologies and strategies rather than a single prescribed solution
• Practice technical analysis, financial evaluation, project planning, and professional communication
• Work with real-world energy data, goals, and constraints
• Build connections with energy professionals and potential employers
• Develop recommendations that can provide meaningful value to participating campuses and districts

The Energy District Cup builds on the successful structure of the Solar District Cup while expanding the scope of the competition to include a broader range of building- and district-level energy solutions.

Please review the Official Rules document for the complete application process and instructions for competing. 

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