NEW: RI Architects Honored In National Design Competition
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Two Rhode Island architects and another local firm were among the winners announced yesterday in the Carbon Challenge Providence Design Competition, a nationwide competion. The U.S. Forest Service Forest Products Lab (FPL) and APA-The Engineered Wood Association honored 6 firms total for designs of an affordable house while considering strategies that reduce fossil fuel use and the structure’s carbon footprint.
Competition participants developed a Habitat for Humanity home design for a vacant lot at 24 Hannah St. With the help of life-cycle assessment software from the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, designers determined the impact of the greenhouse gas emissions from the products in their design. Along with each entry’s carbon footprint, the judges considered its use of wood, its cost-effectiveness, and its aesthetic.
Cash prizes totaling $10,000 were awarded to the winners across multiple categories
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- 2nd Place ($2,500): Kyle Bamrick & Christopher Armstrong, Providence
- 3rd Place ($1,000): Joseph P. Campanella -- Design Alliance, LLC, West Hartford
- Best Use of Wood Products ($500): Anne Lissett & Benjamin Monroe -- LEAF Architecture, West Hartford
- Best Curb Appeal ($500): Erik Rhodin & Taina Rhodin -- Line Company Architects, Waltham
- Most Cost-Effective ($500): Christen M. Robbins -- Vision 3 Architects, Providence
“We were extremely impressed by the entries to the Carbon Challenge Design Competition; the designers took innovative approaches to reducing the home’s carbon footprint while achieving both aesthetic appeal and optimal building performance,” said Bob Clark, senior engineered wood specialist for APA. “The entries clearly reflect the excitement of their designers for creating sustainable building solutions. These designs will improve not only the livability of homes, but also of the surrounding community.”
ZeroEnergy Design’s winning design, “The Little Green Rhody,” is a wood-framed four-bedroom, two bath home with a gabled roof suitable for the neighborhood’s traditional architecture. By combining an airtight, well-insulated building envelope, high-efficiency windows sited for optimal solar orientation, a 7.5-kW solar array, and a range of other features, the house is designed to use less than half the energy of a code-built home. Other features include rain barrels to collect water for landscaping, a two-track driveway to decrease impermeable surfacing, and an insulated basement.
“This design is very buildable and beautifully represented,” noted one judge. “It fits the context of the neighborhood very well.”
A total of 144 designers entered the Carbon Challenge competition in Providence and a simultaneous contest in Baltimore. The initiative is designed to raise awareness of the environmental benefits of wood construction, particularly the carbon neutrality of wood as a building material, and to promote the use of life cycle assessment tools.
“The goal of the Carbon Challenge is to educate designers about the role of building materials in a home’s environmental footprint. By designing with consideration to life cycle assessment, participants are able to adapt their designs and product selections to maximize efficiency and energy performance,” said Mike Ritter, assistant director for FPL. “In turn, the resulting home designsshowcase to the public the attainability and lifelong benefits of sustainably built, wood-framed homes.”
The Carbon Challenge Providence is held in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Rhode Island—Greater Providence and AIA Rhode Island, and is supported by sponsors LP Building Products and Boise Cascade.
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