A group of 65 up-and-coming AEC professionals gathered in San Francisco last week for Building Design+Construction's Third Annual Under 40 Leadership Summit. The highlight of the 2.5-day event was the Vision U40 competition, where 15 teams battled for $5,000 in prizes to see who could develop the best solutions for today's pressing social, economic, technical, and cultural problems related to the built environment.
A few of the common themes presented by the groups were mobility (e.g., adapting the food truck concept for special causes, such as health and wellness education) and the use of technology (e.g., tablet and smartphone apps for the built environment).
Each team had just 90 seconds to pitch their concept to the entire group (see videos below), who voted for their top five. The five winning teams—including the $3,000 grand prize team—will be announced later this week.
In the meantime, we want your feedback on the 15 concepts presented at the Under 40 Leadership Summit. Watch the 90-second pitches below and vote for your favorite idea. Click here to vote!
1. Mobile Wellness
Problem: Americans spend 75% of their average day at work, school, or traveling to and from, leaving just six hours for everything else in their lives.
Solution: Bring healthcare and wellness to local communities (especially schools and workplaces) through a comprehensive, incentivized mobile wellness program that adapts the food truck model. Lab services, health checkups, vaccinations, and more, will be administered on the fly, and at the convenience of the consumer.
2. Cultural Food Shift
Problem: The lack of fresh, healthy food in impoverished areas has become an epidemic in the U.S. How can we alter the culture of food in America, where the consumer demands change in the foods offered by local suppliers?
Solution: Inspire healthy eating in areas of low income through easy-to-build-and-maintain personal and community gardens. The gardens will serve not only as a source of food, but also a gathering area where community members can meet to exchange food, goods, and ideas. The program will kick off with private family gardens and eventually expand to include large, public gardens.
3. WellBOX
Problem: During the next 20 years, 970 million people will be added to third-world countries. These areas lack access to critical healthcare services and clean water.
Solution: The WellBOX is a portable health clinic that can be dropped into any region of the world to provide clean drinking water and healthcare services and education. The self-sustaining unit will be powered by solar panels and will tap into a local well to provide water filtration. The modular structure will come equipped with tele-medicine equipment, allowing doctors to diagnos remotely.
4. M.C.R. (Mobile Culture Reinvented)
Problem: Living in and around major cities does not support a healthy lifestyle, due to long commute times and reliability on the car. Americans, on average, spend 600 hours in their car each year, or roughly an hour and 40 minutes per day.
Solution: M.C.R. is a network of workplace solutions that use zoning, technology, telecommuting, and micro-cities to reduce or eliminate lengthy commutes. For example, re-zoning could encourage the creation of micro-cities in the suburbs. Similarly, technology could increase the use of telecommuting.
5. Less = More
Problem: Thirty percent of India's population (1.2 billion people) lives below the poverty line. While the country has a fairly successful food subsidy program, much of the food goes to waste due to a lack of storage space.
Solution: Build "smart" silos that incorporate wireless technology to connect with regional government warehouses that could handle overflows of food.
6. Internext
Problem: The digital information world offers us instantaneous, universal access, but inundates us with data in a constant, overwhelming stream. As a result, our connections to others and our surrounding community are becoming less meaningful. We've lost our sense of place.
Solution: Internext filters when and where you receive specific digital information based on rules you set, helping you prioritize your life following preferences that reflect your values. Want to spend more time with your family? Set a rule that holds all email after 6 p.m. on workdays. Want to connect with fans of your favorite team while on vacation? Let Internext find the popular hangouts.
7. Healthotron
Problem: Childhood obesity has doubled over the past 30 years. In 2010, more than one-third of the children in the U.S. were overweight or obese.
Solution: Apply the food truck model to health and wellness education. The Healthotron integrates playscapes, interactive video games, and large-screen TVs for teaching kids and parents about nutrition and exercise. A smartphone/tablet app alerts kids when the truck is nearby, encouraging groups of children to get out and play.
8. Design Pulse
Problem: The AEC industry has a good understanding of how design impacts economic and environmental factors, but what about human and social capital issues? How could design decisions holistically improve the human spirit?
Solution: Design Pulse is a sortable, searchable database offering architects and designers a wealth of real-time information about a given environment. The goal: arm design professionals with metrics needed to make design choices that will have a positive effect on the human spirit. The database will aggregate data from a number of sources: geospatial apps, Wikipedia, social media, and wearable computers like Fitbits and Nike FuelBand.
9. The Kids Are Alright
Problem: The younger generation prefers to stay inside, whether in the classroom or on the couch. Additionally, parents are missing out on sharing the same learning opportunities their children have.
Solution: Create a Foursquare-type mobile app that, instead of pulling up nearby restaurants, provides educational information based on your current location—from details on the oak tree in your backyard to the history of the landmark building in the center of town. The app encourages kids and their parents to interact with and learn about their surrounding environment.
10. F.A.B.R.I.C.
Problem: "Unsocial" media has unraveled the fabric of our neighborhoods. How do we encourage people to get outside and interact and connect with their neighbors and communities?
Solution: This digitized sidewalk encourages people to get outside and weave back into their communities. F.A.B.R.I.C. (short for "future, active, bio-optic, responsive, inter-community" sidewalk) features virtual, interactive games, energy generation, social spaces, and an associated mobile app that, for instance, will alert users when a friend is nearby.
11. A Seed That Inspires
Problem: Most communities are strongly focused on the growth of its children, with large investments in schools and other programs. But most working adults end up separated from the educational process. How can we reintegrate the adult population with the educational process, and, more importantly, the educational process with the adult population?
Solution: What if we gave the children in our communities the right to lead us? For one day a week, they select the initiatives and the next steps for the community, and they are empowered to direct us. As adults, we take a step back from the work world and learn from the imagination, skills, and inspiration of our children.
12. Shyft
Problem: There are many issues with urban mobility today, including congested roads that lead to lengthy commutes and large, fixed, costly transit systems that offer limited coverage.
Solution: Shyft combines multiple emerging technologies with existing municipal mass transit solutions to bring innovative commuting to the masses. The system partners existing vehicle commuters with people in need of a ride, based on the commute route. All users are pre-screened, and drivers can earn money for picking up Shyft members.
13. Destination Food
Problem: More than 23 million Americans live without access to affordable, nutritious food. Making things worse, 40% of the food in the U.S. goes to waste.
Solution: Destination Food is an open-source technology platform that connects food supply with demand in a simple, convenient, and affordable way. The app includes a database of profiles and ratings for growers, GPS mapping for connecting consumers to the closest food suppliers, and a scheduling tool for setting up deliveries.
14. ENVIROpedia
Problem: The issues of global warming, climate change, and the environment are extremely complex. What can we do about them as individuals?
Solution: ENVIROpedia is an open-source, crowd-sourced information exchange platform that relies on the power of many to answer tough questions about local environments and economies. Want to know where your concrete mix came from? Or the environmental impact of a copper roof? Simply ask the group. Chances are someone will know the answer.
15. URB-RAL
Problem: The growing urbanization movement will continue to widen the gap between urban and suburban environments. The two have quite a bit to offer one another.
Solution: URB-RAL will establish physical and virtual hubs to encourage and facilitate trade between urban and rural communities. The program will partner urban neighborhoods with sister rural communities and use vehicles to exchange goods and services (e.g., medical services for rural communities and fresh food for urban areas).
Related Stories
| Nov 5, 2013
Living Building Challenge clarifies net-zero definitions and standards
The Living Building Challenge has released the Net Zero Energy Building Certification to provide clearer definitions regarding what net zero really means and how it is to be achieved.
| Nov 5, 2013
Oakland University’s Human Health Building first LEED Platinum university building in Michigan [slideshow]
Built on the former site of a parking lot and an untended natural wetland, the 160,260-sf, five-story, terra cotta-clad building features some of the industry’s most innovative, energy-efficient building systems and advanced sustainable design features.
| Nov 4, 2013
Architecture and engineering industry outlook remains positive on all major indicators
While still below pre-recession levels, all of the key indicators in the latest Quarterly Market Forecast (QMF) report from PSMJ Resources remain in positive territory.
| Nov 1, 2013
CBRE Group enhances healthcare platform with acquisition of KLMK Group
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) today announced that it has acquired KLMK Group, a leading provider of facility consulting, project advisory and facility activation solutions to the healthcare industry.
| Oct 31, 2013
74 years later, Frank Lloyd Wright structure built at Florida Southern College
The Lakeland, Fla., college adds to its collection of FLW buildings with the completion of the Usonian house, designed by the famed architect in 1939, but never built—until now.
| Oct 31, 2013
CBRE's bold experiment: 200-person office with no assigned desks [slideshow]
In an effort to reduce rent costs, real estate brokerage firm CBRE created its first completely "untethered" office in Los Angeles, where assigned desks and offices are replaced with flexible workspaces.
| Oct 30, 2013
15 stellar historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation projects
The winners of the 2013 Reconstruction Awards showcase the best work of distinguished Building Teams, encompassing historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovations and additions.
| Oct 30, 2013
Why are companies forcing people back to the office?
For a while now companies have been advised that flexibility is a key component to a successful workplace strategy, with remote working being a big consideration. But some argue that we’ve moved the needle too far toward a “work anywhere” culture.
| Oct 30, 2013
Metal roof design tips: The devil is in the details
This AIA/CES-approved presentation provides information regarding proper design to prevent possible infiltration from the roof system into the building. It also works as a guide when designing a roof to allow for proper water runoff.
| Oct 30, 2013
Steven Holl selected for Culture and Art Center in Qingdao, besting Zaha Hadid, OMA
Steven Holl Architects has been selected by near unanimous jury decision as the winner of the new Culture and Art Center of Qingdao City competition, besting OMA and Zaha Hadid Architects. The 2 million-sf project for four museums is the heart of the new extension of Qingdao, China, planned for a population of 700,000.