October 31, 2007—The winners of the inaugural Lifecycle Building Challenge competition were recently announced by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the Building Materials Reuse Association at the West Coast Green conference. Winners were recognized for their cutting-edge green building ideas, which aim to reduce environmental and energy impacts of buildings.
Ideas from the design contest will jumpstart the building industry to help reuse more of the 100 million tons of building-related construction and demolition debris (33% of the US solid waste stream) sent each year to landfills in the US, say the organizations.
Professionals and students nationwide were invited to submit designs and ideas that support cost- effective disassembly and anticipate future use of building materials. By creating building components that can be easily recovered and reused, materials are kept at their highest value, resulting in reduced consumption of energy and resources, note the organizers.
Winners include:
Building category:
- The groHome (Student): Open source housing modules to meet changing family and community needs; Adam Fenner, Jason Bond, Thomas Gerhardt, Josh Canez, Nick Schaider, students, Texas A&M University, 2007 Solar Decathlon Team, College Station, TX
- Pavilion in the Park (Professional–Built): Building that separates into four modules and can be moved by truck; Erin Silva, architectural designer, The Miller|Hull Partnership, Seattle, WA
- GreenMobile Factory-built Housing Units for SE USA (Professional–Unbuilt): Adaptable mobile home unit for disaster relief and permanent use; Michael Berk, professor, Mississippi State University School of Architecture, Mississippi State, MS.
Component category:
- Green-Zip-Tape Demountable Tape (Professional—Built): Drywall tape attachment system to support easy deconstruction and reuse; Frank Little, founder, Tax Advantage Design, Magnolia, TX
- Deconstructable and Reusable Composite Slab (Professional—Unbuilt): Reusable structural floor system; Mark D. Webster, Dirk M. Kestner, James C. Parker, Matthew H. Johnson, structural engineers, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc., Auburndale, MA
- Guidelines for Building with Reusable Materials (Student): Creative designs from reused building materials collected regionally; Aaron Tvrdy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Tool and Service category:
- ATHENA Assembly Evaluation Tool (Professional—Built): Software on the lifecycle environmental impacts of building assemblies; Wayne Trusty, ATHENA Institute, Portland, OR
- Deconstruction Engineer (Student): Proposed new profession to support building deconstruction; Keith Cullum and Paul Sargent, California Polytechnic State University, Yorba Linda, CA
People’s Choice Award:
- Sustainability by Design: Deconstruction and Adaptive Reuse (Professional—Unbuilt): Comprehensive 99 percent reuse and recycling construction project; Mitch Boucher, Haworth, Inc., Holland, MI
