This year’s Student Design Competition focused on the design of a new laboratory building: a large single-story building with a rooftop penthouse located in Cairo, Egypt. The total building area was approximately 2,515 square meters.

As part of the project, new HVAC systems were to be designed for the facility. The building consisted of a wet bench lab, dry bench lab, research support offices, a common area for circulation, a secured high-density data center room, the penthouse, a common reception area, offices, storage, a resting pods room, and a social room.

Teams competed in one of the three categories: HVAC Design Calculations, HVAC System Selection, or the Setty Family Foundation Net-Zero Energy Design.

First place in the HVAC Design Calculations category went to Jackson Fritch, John Latta, and Clayton Riley of the University of Nebraska. David Yuill, Ph.D., P.E., was the team’s advisor. Pete Uhing, P.E., and Brian Kolm, P.E., were the team’s industry mentors.

Placing first in the HVAC System Selection category were Lawrence Copestick, Hasan Shwaish, Hitaishi Gopaul, Cian Silaghi, and Zain Tariq of the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England. Craig Wootton was the team’s advisor.

Receiving first place in the Setty Family Foundation Net-Zero Energy Design category were Thomas Crook, Girish Gudnennavar, Mirza Baig, Alex He, and Rodrigo Gonzalez of Loughborough University, Loughborough, England. Dimitris Tseno was the team’s advisor.

In the Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge, students designed a portable IAQ health meter to detect contaminants in spaces and display the levels of different toxins. The system considered multiple system variables, including space temperature, humidity and contaminant level, as outlined in ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, as well as outdoor conditions and other IAQ issues.

Lie Kevin Marcellino Gunawan, Andrew Tanuwijaya, Nur Fharhan Al Fariz, Frederick Ebenezer Leonard, Muhammad Maulvi Mirza Chairat, and Muhammad Arghy Rafidan of the Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia, won first place. Poetro Lebdo Sambegoro MSME, Ph.D., was the team’s advisor.

First-place teams in the Net-Zero Energy Design and Applied Engineering categories will each receive a cash prize of $5,000 in addition to $5,000 for the team to travel to the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference, January 20-24 in Chicago, Illinois.

Winners of the HVAC Design Calculations and HVAC System Selections will receive a cash prize of $2,000 as well as funding for a representative from their team to attend the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference. The projects will be recognized during the conference.

For a full list of Student Design Competition and Applied Engineering Competition winners, visit this page on the Student Zone.