District heating systems and geothermal heat pumps can usually be integrated easily into communities, with almost no visual impact. Geothermal power plants tend to have a lower profile and smaller land footprint compared to many other energy-generation technologies, and they do not require fuel storage, transportation, or combustion.

Geothermal energy is heat that flows continuously from the Earth’s core to the surface—and has been doing so for about 4.5 billion years. This heat is continually replenished by the decay of naturally occurring radioactive elements in the Earth’s interior and will remain available for billions of years, ensuring an essentially inexhaustible supply of energy. Geothermal power plants operate by drawing fluid or steam from underground reservoirs, and these reservoirs have been demonstrated long term at geothermal plants such as Lardarello in Italy (1913), Wairakei in New Zealand (1958), and The Geysers in California (1960). Some geothermal power plants have experienced pressure and production declines, but operators are finding solutions to maintain reservoir pressure. For instance, the city of Santa Rosa, California, pipes its treated wastewater to The Geysers geothermal field to be used as reinjection fluid, thereby prolonging the life of the reservoir while recycling the treated wastewater.

Wells can be drilled into the earth to tap this energy. In the form of naturally occurring steam and hot water, geothermal energy can be drawn to the surface to generate electricity, heat and cool buildings, and serve other uses. Geothermal energy is heat that flows continuously from the Earth’s interior to the surface—and has been doing so for about 4.5 billion years. The temperature at the center of the Earth is about the same as the surface of the sun (nearly 6,000°C, or about 10,800°F). This heat is continually replenished by the decay of naturally occurring radioactive elements beneath the subsurface and will remain available for billions of years, ensuring an essentially inexhaustible supply of energy. Geothermal technologies offer many environmental benefits, including: Low emissions from electricity generation. Geothermal power plants largely release only excess steam, with most plants discharging no air or liquid. This makes geothermal power plants a clean source of electricity and an important contributor to the nation’s zero-carbon future. Reaching the levels of geothermal electricity deployment outlined in the GeoVision analysis [energy.gov] could help the United States avoid greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual emissions of 6 million cars. Critical materials. Some geothermal plants produce solid materials, or sludges, that require disposal in approved sites. Some of these solids are now being extracted for sale (zinc, silica, and sulfur, for example), making the resource even more valuable and environmentally friendly. In addition, lithium—a critical material—is present in high concentrations in some geothermal brines. Learning to cost effectively extract that lithium [energy.gov] could provide the United States with a domestic source of this important material. Efficiency and reduced carbon emissions for heating and cooling. Geothermal energy offers U.S. homes and businesses low-carbon and energy-efficient heating and cooling options, such as geothermal heat pumps [energy.gov], which use the constant temperature of the Earth to regulate heat from buildings. Reaching the target number of installed geothermal heat pumps outlined in the GeoVision analysis [energy.gov] could help the U.S. avoid greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual emissions of 20 million cars. Comparably low water use. By 2050, geothermal energy could represent 8.5% of total U.S. electricity generation while being accountable for only 1.1% of power-sector water withdrawals. The majority of this growth could be supported using non-freshwater sources.

Comparably low water use. By 2050, geothermal energy could represent 8.5% of total U.S. electricity generation while being accountable for only 1.1% of power-sector water withdrawals. The majority of this growth could be supported using non-freshwater sources.

Geothermal power is “homegrown,” offering a domestic source of reliable, renewable energy. Geothermal energy is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of weather. Geothermal power plants have a high-capacity factor—typically 90% or higher—meaning that they can operate at maximum capacity nearly all the time. These factors mean that geothermal can balance intermittent sources of energy like wind and solar, making it a critical part of the national renewable energy mix.

New and different configurations of these systems are emerging in universities and communities all over the United States. Geothermal Technologies Office's (GTO) Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment [energy.gov] initiative is focused on supporting communities in implementing such systems and will grow the body of replicable case studies to increase deployment nationwide. GTO is committed to directly engaging with communities [energy.gov] by providing educational services on geothermal energy, empowering them to make informed decisions based on local energy needs.

Energy Mentors is heartened that our Founding Sponsors have enabled a prize pool up to US$31,000. We are open to further donations by individuals and other entities to increase the prize pool. The remaining funds in the prize pool after the allocation to the grand prize will be awarded to Distinguished Designs at the discretion of the judges.

The teams’ designs including any documentation submitted to the web site shall speak for itself. The teams’ designs are more similar to commercial rather than academic deliverables. As the submissions are designs they may tend in some way to be derivative of and synthesis of prior knowledge and techniques. The competition specifically calls for designs to include capabilities available in the marketplace. It is always a nice gesture to give some recognition and thanks to those who either directly or indirectly helped and or inspired.

Results as determined by majority vote of the judges.

The Organizing Committee and Energy Mentors will post Knowledge Resources and is considering possible web casts and or video postings so they are accessible to all team. The competing team should turn to local professors and professionals for team mentoring and advising.

Yes.

The results from the judges are final. There is no appeal process.

Energy mentors encourages broad participation so have the following guidelines: Teams may form ad hoc and need not be officially sponsored by a university, club or organization though it is welcome if teams are so sponsored. Each team should have a team name and indicate their location, such as their university. Teams can decide on the number of teammates themselves. Team members may include undergraduate students, graduate students, and persons who are not degree candidates. Teams may draw on the knowledge and advice from any resources they wish. However, faculty and working professionals should not contribute to directly producing results and deliverables.

The deadline for team registration is March 15, 2025.

Please use the “Participate” link to register your team. Deliverables for submissions are listed on page & of this document: Power The Community: An International College Design Competition (energymentors.org) A link will be provided in January, 2024, to registered teams so they can submit their project deliverables Should you encounter a problem while completing the online registration form, kindly reach out to us at info@energymentors.org.

Maybe. Maybe not. A community certainly needs an economic underpinning to be a great place to live. Such could be provided in the community design. Or it could be located nearby. In the latter case a design element could focus on how best residents can flow to and from places of employment and business that are nearby. Nearby employment and economic activity may drive the location for a community. Those economic centers of activity can be geolocated versus the community on an area map.

It is suggested that teams consult appropriate intellectual property (IP) legal counsel before submission to ensure adequate protection. Many universities and colleges have IP capabilities and protocols.

This is for each team to decide. It should be driven by their view of local market demand by their target customers. This enables teams to leveraging their local knowledge and to consider solutions that best meet local needs.

Energy Mentors will act as the Organizing Committee (OC) to administer the “Power the Community” competition. The Organizing Committee may be supplemented with volunteers. The Organizing Committee will recruit and appoint judges by the time of the design submissions. No Board Member or employee of Energy Mentors or volunteers on the Organizing Committee shall be a judge.

Hopefully no team displays grossly uncivil public behavior during the competition. The Organizing Committee at its sole discretion reserves the right to eliminate any team for grossly uncivil public behavior during the course of the competition.

Queries can be sent to info@energymentors.org. Replies to queries will be posted on the competition website, for example here in the FAQs, so all teams may benefit from the reply.

Energy Mentors is open to individuals or companies supplementing the prize pool. Energy Mentors is providing the $10,000 grand prize. Note: If additional sponsors come forward: All prizes will be awarded by majority vote of the judges of the regional or finals. 100% of the offered prize money will be awarded to students (no overhead). The donor's name can be on the prize, e.g., "CompanyX Distinguished Award, Power the Community South America Competition" If you wish to inquire about being a Sponsors please contact: info@enegymentors.org.

The deadline for team submission is April 15, 2025

This competition seeks design masterpieces. Lots of them. Could a formulistic judging rubric unleash each team to be as innovative as they might be? Might a rubric bake-in bias to existing paradigms. Could there be an incentive to “gamify” their design submission for maximum score rather than generate the best solutions for their community? Consider these thought exercises: How would the iPhone fare in a 2006 mobile phone competition if the judging rubric included more points for a great keyboard design? Should people be penalized for not following a formula? Michelangelo was given a specification for what should be painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He did not comply with the paradigm he was given. (Ignoring time and place …) Can you come up with a judging rubric that could “score” the designs of both the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower where decision makers would move forward to build both? It is intended that the five judges be of diverse professional capabilities and accomplishments. It is hoped that collectively they will appreciate great designs when they encounter them.

A community certainly needs access to shopping (e.g. grocery and drug stores), other retail, restaurants, places of worship, community centers, etc., to be a great place to live. Such could be provided in the community, or depending on how the proposed community is sited on the map, it could be located nearby so the design element of focus could be residents flow to and from accessing such services.

A team may change its members up to the time of submission of its design. Awards if won will be allocated equally by those team members documented in the design submission.

The competing teams are responsible for submission of their deliverables by the closing date of submissions, in alignment with the competition requirements, as conducted in a professional manner.

This is at the project team’s discretion to nominate a primary contact.

“Nearby” will be a judgment call each team will have to decide. Teams may consider nearby populations using a thought process like but not limited to: The population to the nearest city of greater than 100,000 persons. Populations in the surrounding 500 km (300 miles) if the design is for a less populous region.

Energy Mentors will award a prize if as little as one team enters. If 12 or more teams enter then the competition will be logically broken down into preliminary rounds. Such may be organized by regions, countries, or continents, depending on the geographic distribution of entries. If preliminaries, then a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 12 entries will be promoted into the finals. For example, if one continent or country has 6 or more entries then that continent or country may be a preliminary round with at least one entry promoted to the final round.

Some examples: Components available for purchase today: Photovoltaic (PV) solar roofing tiles, cryogenic iso containers filled with LNG delivered by truck. Components not available for purchase today: Community deployable small modular nuclear reactors. Note: If components are available for purchase today regardless of volume it can be used in the submitted designs. It can be assumed production can be ramped over time if demand increases.

As a practical matter the pitch video has to be accessible to the judges so it should be in English or have English subtitles.

Design to real world conditions is a great learning mechanism as it requires embracing and overcoming non-ideal conditions. It challenges to take your project to applicability in the real world.

Sure. Why Not?

Kindly send an email to info@energymentors.org.