After two years of preparation designing and building our home to California Title 24 Code, we had just under one week to transport and setup our home for a week-long competition and public showcase.

As HVAC and Energy Modeling Team Leader of the Engineering Division for UC Davis' Solar Decathlon team, I analyzed every aspect of our home and modeled various iterations to inform the rest of our team on design considerations from materials to equipment placement and structural elements that affected heating and cooling of the home. I also contributed to design and construction.

Our design featured a novel "night-sky cooling" system that recycled sprinkler water we used to clean our rooftop solar panels at night while also capturing and storing radiant and evaporative cooling energy in an insulated water tank, which we later pumped through our home during the day to keep the interior a steady 76 F when it was 100 F outside.

The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy commended our efforts and design. He also gave me a fist-bump after awarding me the most affordable home trophy, which I accepted for our team.