The fourth annual Architecture at Zero competition, sponsored by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, has wrapped up, with five design concepts selected as winners.
The competition challenged design teams to create zero-net-energy (ZNE) buildings for the Jack London Gateway project site in Oakland, Calif. It involved two parts: affordable family housing over a childcare center or wellness clinic, and market-rate housing over a grocery store.
The California Public Utility Commission has a goal for new residential buildings to be ZNE by 2020, and for new commercial buildings to be ZNE by 2030. The Architecture at Zero competition is an attempt to make this goal a reality. It's open to students, architects, landscape architects, urban planners, engineers, and designers all over the world.
Check out the five award winners:
Merit Award – Student
Image Courtesy of Architecture at Zero
Gateway Residences
Judson University
Elgin, IL
Project Manager: Eric Blowers
Sustainability Specialist: Jaclein Ely
Designer: David Merlo
Detail Drawing Manager: Kathryn Husar
Diagrams/Illustrations Specialist: Peter Lukacs
Sponsored Faculty Member: Keelan Kaiser
Merit Award – Student
Image Courtesy of Architecture at Zero
The Wave
University of Aalborg
Copenhagen, Denmark
Project Architects & Engineers: Elias Mohr Jensen, Jonas Snedevind Nielsen and Henrik Jacobsen
Honor Award - Professional
Image Courtesy of Architecture at Zero
Embracing Limits
3r studio
Oakland, CA
Project Architects: Le Pham and Mai Tran
Energy Consultant: Hung Dang
Honor Award - Professional
Image Courtesy of Architecture at Zero
Symbiosis
Montreal, Canada
Team: Rocio Carvajo Lucena, Architect, LEED, Sergio Carretero Gomez, Architect, Josiane Crampé, M. Architect, and Geoffrey Diackiw, M. Architect
Special Recognition Award - Professional
Image Courtesy of Architecture at Zero
Flourish
SERA & Glumac
Portland, OR
Project Manager/Designer/Technical Documents: Katie Felver
Designer/Technical Documents: Nathan Burton
Designer/Graphics: Artur Grochowski
Graphics Assist: Jodi Hanson
Designer Biophilia Specialist: Matt Piccone
Designer: Jeffrey Maas
Project Engineer/Energy Modeler: Brian Goldsmith
Envelope Advisor: Mark Perepelitza
Design Advisor: Jeff Roberts
Project Management/Daylight Advisor: Lisa Petterson
Energy Advisor: Chris Lowen
Energy Advisor: James Thomas
Related Stories
| Feb 9, 2011
Fortune 1000: Despite moral obligation to sustainability, cash is still king
Eighty-eight percent of Fortune 1000 senior executives feel business has a moral responsibility, beyond regulatory requirements, to make their companies more energy efficient, according to a new poll released today by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Schneider Electric. At the same time, the vast majority (61%) of respondents say that potential cost savings are their biggest motivator to save energy at the enterprise-level, outranking environmental concerns (13%) or government regulations (2%).
| Feb 4, 2011
U.S. Green Building Council applauds President Obama’s Green Building Initiative
The U.S. Green Building Council applauded a key element of President Obama’s plan to “win the future” by making America’s commercial buildings more energy- and resource-efficient over the next decade. The President’s plan, entitled Better Buildings Initiative, catalyzes private-sector investment through a series of incentives to upgrade offices, stores, schools and universities, hospitals and other commercial and municipal buildings.
| Feb 4, 2011
President Obama: 20% improvement in energy efficiency will save $40 billion
President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative, announced February 3, 2011, aims to achieve a 20% improvement in energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 2020, improvements that will save American businesses $40 billion a year.
| Jan 25, 2011
Bloomberg launches NYC Urban Tech Innovation Center
To promote the development and commercialization of green building technologies in New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has launched the NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center. This initiative will connect academic institutions conducting underlying research, companies creating the associated products, and building owners who will use those technologies.
| Jan 25, 2011
Chicago invented the skyscraper; can it pioneer sustainable-energy strategies as well?
Chicago’s skyline has always been a source of pride. And while few new buildings are currently going up, building owners have developed a plan to capitalize on the latest advances: Smart-grid technologies that will convert the city’s iconic skyline into what backers call a “virtual green generator” by retrofitting high-rise buildings and the existing electrical grid to a new hyper-connected intelligent-communications backbone.
| Jan 25, 2011
Sherwin-Williams Zero-VOC Claim Misleading, Says BBB
In a move that could prompt industry-wide changes to claims about volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has told Sherwin-Williams it should stop marketing its Harmony line of paints as “zero-VOC.” Sherwin-Williams said it will accept NAD’s decision and will take the findings into consideration in its future advertising.
| Jan 25, 2011
InterContinental Hotels Group gets LEED pre-certification
InterContinental Hotels Group, the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced that its in-house sustainability system Green Engage has been awarded LEED volume pre-certification established from the USGBC and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute. IHG is the first hotel company to receive this award for an existing hotels program.
| Jan 21, 2011
Combination credit union and USO center earns LEED Silver
After the Army announced plans to expand Fort Bliss, in Texas, by up to 30,000 troops, FirstLight Federal Credit Union contracted NewGround (as CM) to build a new 16,000-sf facility, allocating 6,000 sf for a USO center with an Internet café, gaming stations, and theater.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 21, 2011
Virginia community college completes LEED Silver science building
The new 60,000-sf science building at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Va., just earned LEED Silver, the first facility in the Commonwealth’s community college system to earn this recognition. The facility, designed by Burt Hill with Gilbane Building Co. as construction manager, houses an entire floor of laboratory classrooms, plus a new library, student lounge, and bookstore.
