SKOKIE, Ill. – Registration is now open for the 2009 “Concrete Thinking for A Sustainable World” international student design competition.

Sponsored by the Portland Cement Association (PCA), the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the contest challenges students to investigate innovative applications of portland cement-based materials to achieve sustainable design objectives.  The competition is open to all ACSA-affiliated schools.

Students are required to use design idea(s) from their studio work to illustrate enhanced building performance resulting from the use of portland cement-based material as a key element.  The competition offers two separate entry categories, each without site restrictions, for maximum flexibility:

• Transit Hub: Design an environmentally responsible Public Transportation Center focusing on architectural innovations to preserve tomorrow’s resources.
• Building Element: Design a single element of a building that provides a sustainable solution to real-world environmental challenges.

Design concepts can focus on, but are not limited to, such sustainable design objectives as:

• durability,
• recyclability,
• reduced site disturbance,
• storm water management,
• heat island effect,
• optimized energy performance,
• indoor air quality,
• material use reductions, and
• recycled content use.

Winning students, their faculty sponsors, and schools will receive cash prizes and software totaling nearly $50,000. Each winning school will receive a complete package of StructurePoint software, a retail value of nearly $10,000. The design jury will convene in June 2009 to select winning projects and honorable mentions.

The deadline to register for the competition is February 9, 2009, and the deadline to submit final entries is June 3. 

For a complete competition program guide, please visit https://www.acsa-arch.org/competitions/09Concrete.aspx.

About PCA
The Portland Cement Association (PCA), based in Skokie, Ill., represents cement companies in the United States and Canada. It conducts market development engineering, research, education, and public affairs programs. Additional information is available at www.cement.org. PCA also developed www.concretethinker.org, a Web site devoted to how concrete can be used to achieve sustainability solutions.


About ACSA
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1912 to enhance the quality of architectural education. School membership in ACSA has grown from 10 charter schools to more than 200 schools in several membership categories. Through these schools, more than 4,500 architecture faculty are represented in ACSA’s membership. ACSA, unique in its representative role for professional schools of architecture, provides a major forum for ideas on the leading edge of architectural thought. Issues that will affect the architectural profession in the future are being examined today in ACSA member schools. Additional information is available at www.acsa-arch.org.

About NRMCA
NRMCA, based in Silver Spring, MD, represents the producers of ready mixed concrete and the companies that provide materials, equipment and support to the industry. It conducts education, training, promotion, research, engineering, safety, environmental, technological, lobbying and regulatory programs.

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