Background of the OCSD
Building A Better Future
The Need for Sustainability
Imagining the Future of California
California has reached a tipping point and the need to mitigate climate change is clear. Wildfires ravage our communities, droughts impact food production and water supplies, rising sea levels erode coastlines, and shifting weather patterns threaten many of California’s natural wonders. We need resilient, sustainable housing. In addition, with the rising cost of living in California, we need more affordable homes.
Richard King, OCSD23 competition director, founded the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon in 2002. Under his leadership, U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon competitions were held biannually in Washington, DC, from 2002 to 2011. After attending one of those events, Chapman University Associate Professor Fred Smoller worked on a proposal to bring the Solar Decathlon to California. Competitions were held at the Orange County Great Park in 2013 and 2015.
Since then, Fred Smoller and Mike Moodian, a longtime academic and community leader, have focused on developing a new competition for the State of California. A substantial grant from the California Legislature, championed by California State Senator Dave Min, provides the financial resources for the inaugural Orange County Sustainability Decathlon.
It happened! King, Smoller, and Moodian joined forces to organize a new collegiate competition and sustainability exposition to be held in October 2023. This exciting event aims to offer innovative solutions for today’s most challenging environmental and affordable housing problems.

Leadership
Event Overview
The California Legislature adopted the bold and commendable goal of being 100% reliant on renewable energy by 2045. To achieve this, we must harness the creative energy of students and rich resources within the academic community.
The Orange County Sustainability Decathlon is an exciting new competition that promises to motivate and empower California’s best and brightest to lead the state’s transition to 100% renewable energy.
OCSD23 challenges multidisciplinary teams of students, researchers, architects, engineers, builders, entrepreneurs, and innovators to design and build replicable housing units that aim to accelerate sustainable development throughout the state. Participating teams will need to blend affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and sustainability. Everyone will win when these award-winning model homes are readily replicated throughout the state and beyond.
