May 15, 2006—Bond Companies, a real estate development firm focused on smart growth and revitalizing urban communities, has announced that students from USC and UCLA are recipients of the company’s first “green-building” real estate competition.
Tina Lin and R. Michael Sung from USC, and Daniel Freedman from UCLA, will be awarded $5,000 for creating innovative and cost-effective solutions for incorporating green-building technologies, products and processes into real estate development projects.
The awards will be given at a presentation in Santa Monica, Calif., on May 15, at which time the students, as well as Adam Cibik from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will have an opportunity to win an additional cash award of $5,000 for themselves and $5,000 for their university as the grand prize winner.
Bond Companies started the competition, called University Challenge, “to encourage students to think in smart growth terms and create sustainable, environmentally friendly projects,” according to Larry Bond, chairman of Bond Companies.
Lin, who is working on her masters in real estate development, and Sung, an MBA student, will share in the $5,000 award for their retail and residential mixed-use development project in Pasadena.
As a result of the competition, “I learned that green buildings are exceptionally cost-effective,” says Freedman, who is completing his masters in planning at UCLA with an emphasis on environmental policy and analysis. “Today, the practice of building green is new to many developers. As more developers venture green, the entire industry will learn to accommodate green principles in a manner that not only helps the environment, but also the bottom line.”
Bond Companies is an award-winning real estate development company focused on bringing positive change in urban communities needing economic revitalization. For more information, visit the Web site.
