SKOKIE, Ill. – Some of today’s freshest ideas in sustainable design are being developed by architecture students from around the world, as the “Concrete Thinking for A Sustainable World”international student design competition shows.
 
U.S. and Canadian entries took top honors this year in a field that included more than 80 entries from the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, Japan and New Zealand.  The competition challenges students to explore innovative applications of concrete and other portland cement-based materials to achieve sustainable design objectives.

A student from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., won first place in the component category for demonstrating how materials usually bound for a landfill could be recycled to create building materials for environmentally friendly structures. A team from Université Laval in Quebec earned first place in the structure category for designing a building that connects architecture to the environment by linking a former maritime construction site with sustainable design.

These designs emerged from concepts from students at 23 universities, who took part in the second annual competition sponsored by the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).

“We applaud these students for coming up with such innovative submissions and pushing the boundaries of concrete in green building,” said David Shepherd, Portland Cement Association’s director of sustainable development.

“PCA supports this contest because it builds awareness about the important role that concrete plays in sustainable development. Concrete’s durability, energy efficiency and versatility make it an ideal building material for sustainable design.”

ACSA will feature winning submissions in a summary publication that will be available this summer on their Web site, www.acsa-arch.org. Prize-winning projects will also be exhibited at the 2008 American Institute of Architects National Convention in Boston from May 15 -17 and the 2008 ACSA Annual Meeting in Houston from March 27-30. 

Winning students, their faculty sponsors and schools will receive cash prizes and software totaling nearly $50,000. Included in the prize package is pcaStructurePoint©, concrete design software, a retail value of $9,745.

First Place Winner—Component Category
Student: Henry Louis Miller
University: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Faculty Sponsor: David Howard Bell
Project Title: Clean-up: Dirt Built / Cement Made

Miller won first place in the component category through his innovative use of portland cement to neutralize the negative characteristics of other materials such as post-consumer-waste plastics or toxically compromised soil that would otherwise be headed to landfills.  By combining cement with contaminated soil to make bricks that can be used for building projects, he developed a financially practical and environment friendly way for organizations to conduct remediation and renewal.  

First Place Winner—Structure Category
Students: Giséle Fraser, Daphnee Van Lierde and Mikaëlle Rolland-Lamothe
University: Université Laval
Faculty Sponsors: Claude Demers, Marie-Claude Dubois and Andre Potvin
Project Title: Riverbank Filters

This team of students won first place in the structure category with their design for a new Science Center of Quebec at the former maritime construction site. The project uses concrete walls inspired by the terrain to connect architecture and the environment. Part of the building faces and extends out into the river to take advantage of passive heating and cooling effects. The design team created a linear front using visual, thermal and acoustic elements to create unity within a multi-faceted environmental setting.  

Additional Winners—Structure Category

2nd Place
Student: Grahm Balkany
University:  Illinois Institute of Technology
Faculty Sponsors: Thomas Brock & John DeSalvo
Project Title: Green Concrete

3rd Place
Students: Francois Riverin, Sylain Lagacè, & Philippe Lafrance-Boucher
University: Université Laval
Faculty Sponsors: Claude Demers, Marie-Claude Dubois, & Andre Potvin
Project Title: PLAiNsight

Honorable Mention
Student: Corentin Fivet
University: Oklahoma State University;
Faculty Sponsor: Anthony Joseph Cricchio
Project Title: Shotcrete to Sustain Italy

Honorable Mention
Students: Anabel Arsehault, Gabrielle Nadeau, & Olivier Boucher
University: Université Laval
Faculty Sponsors: Claude Demers, Marie-Claude Dubois, & Andre Potvin
Project Title: Matricial Interface

Panel of Judges
Over the weekend of June 23-24, 2007, a design jury convened in Washington, D.C., to select the winning projects and honorable mentions. The design jury consisted of the following individuals:

• David Shepherd, AIA, director of sustainable development for the PCA
• G. Martin Moeller, Jr., senior vice president and curator at the National Building Museum
• Deborah Oakley, assistant professor architecture, University of Maryland, and committee member of the Building Technology Educators’ Society
• Terri Boake, associate professor of architecture at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and president of the Society of Building Science Educators
• Bethany Walker, western region manager for the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute

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.