A team of graduate students from the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture claimed a significant victory April 27, earning top honors in the Multi-Family Housing Division of the international BuildingNEXT competition, held at the U.S. Department of Energy’s laboratory in Golden, Colorado.
The Eco-Sooner team, made up of 11 master’s and doctoral students from various divisions of the college, competed against 93 other colleges and universities from around the world. Judges praised the team for its innovative and well-rounded design, which focused on high-performance systems and long-term energy savings. Their project tackled substantial global challenges like affordable housing and lowering consumer costs with solutions that can be scaled widely.
Negar Matin, Ph.D., faculty advisor to the team, expressed her pride in their accomplishment. “This recognition is a testament to our students’ hard work, innovation and collaborative spirit,” she said. “Their success not only highlights the excellence of our academic programs but also underscores our commitment to sustainable and affordable housing solutions across Oklahoma.”
The BuildingNEXT competition, formerly known as the Solar Decathlon competition, recognizes outstanding achievement by awarding four teams in each division an honorable mention. The Eco-Sooner team’s win in the Multi-Family Housing Division places them among the top-performing teams in the world.
The 2025 Eco-Sooner team.
“This latest achievement in the BuildingNEXT competition further solidifies the OU team’s position as one of the top-performing groups in the nation,” said Hans Butzer, dean of the College of Architecture. “Their continued excellence reflects not only technical skill but also exceptional leadership, bringing together master’s and Ph.D. students from across disciplines to deliver outstanding results.”
The Eco-Sooners team’s student members include Shiva Azizi, Akshaya Balakrishnan, Abbey Fradette, Jennifer Fuentes-Gonzales, Yousef Haghighi, Rodney Hurt, Charlotte McMeekin, Iman Moradi, Keerthana Nampally, Juan Jose Serrano Sala and Oluwayanmife Taiwo.
The award ceremony, linked below, held at the Department of Energy facility marked a high point in a rigorous competition known for showcasing the latest in sustainable design and construction.
Congratulations, Eco-Sooners!
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
