Garbon Ghallenge

Gompetition challenges designers to consider environmental impacts

such as wood-that emit less carbon during manufacture and even store carbon within them, designers can make homes much more sustainable."

FPL and APA awarded cash prizes totaling $20,000 to competition winners, whose designs were judged on their life-cycle assessment score, aesthetic appeal, cost effectiveness, and use of wood.

Providence Winners

For Carbon Challenge Providence, entrants were tasked with designing a Habitat for Humanity house for a vacant lot in the city's Olneyville neighborhood. Carbon Challenge Providence was held in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Rhode Island-Greater Providence and AIA Rhode Island, and was supported by sponsors LP Building Products and Boise Cascade.

|Ttuls sPRlNG, ARCHITECTs from I around the country tested their sustainability smarts in the Carbon Challenge, a green-home design competition that challenged participants to consider the environmental impact of building materials.

A joint campaign of the U.S. Forest Service Forest Products Lab (FPL) and APA-The Engineered Wood Association, the Carbon Challenge sought to educate home designers, builders, and communities about how sustainable design strategies can address the long-term environmental impact of a building, as well as promote the use of wood as a component to sustainable design.

The Carbon Challenge competition focused on two types of homes in two cities-a single-family Habitat for Humanity house in Providence, R.L, and an urban row house in Baltimore, Md. Using life-cycle assessment software from the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, designers were able to determine the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the products in their designs.

"When the industry and the public think about the environmental footprint of a home, it's often the energy use that's considered. But that discounts the amount of CO2 emitted to create the structure's materialscalled embodied carbon," said Bob Clark, APA senior engineered wood specialist. "By specifying products-

Boston-based ZeroEnergy Design took home grand prize honors for "The Little Green Rhody," a woodframed four-bedroom, two-bath home with a gabled roof suitable for the neighborhood's traditional architecture. By combining an airtight, wellinsulated 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 halfthe 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."

Also earnins honors in Providence:

2nd Place: Kyle Bamrick & Christopher Amstrong, Providence

3rd Place: Joseph P. CampanellaDesign Alliance, W. Hartford, Ct.

Best Use of Wood: Anne Lissett & Benjamin Monroe LEAF

Architecture, W. Hartford

Best Curb Appeal: Erik Rhodin & Taina RhodinLine Co. Architects, Waltham, Ma.

Most Cost-Effective: Christen M. RobbinsVision 3 Architects, Providence

Baltimore Winners

For Carbon Challenge Baltimore, entrants were asked to update Baltimore's iconic row houses in a vacant block in the city's Oliver neighborhood. The Baltimore competition was held in partnership with the City of Baltimore and AIA Baltimore, and was supported by sponsors LP Building Products, Boise Cascade, and Roseburg Forest Products.

Phillip Jones, with Baltimore-based Cho Benn Holback + Associates, designed the winning concept, a modern take on the traditional row house, featuring an open floor plan that maximizes daylight; a wider, semi-enclosed front "stoop," and a roof deck with covered and uncovered entertaining areas, green roofing system, and solar hot water collectors. The design's rammed-earth construction, a highly efficient building method that stores heat in the winter while blockine it in the summer, contributed significantly to its lower carbon footprint.

"This well-conceived and welldesigned residence provides comfortably proportioned, usable living spaces with many desirable features, including an entry vestibule, a mud room/pantry, and a second-floor den with laundry," said one of the jury members.

Also earning accolades

Baltimore:

2nd Prizel. Alexander Dzurecautotroph, Huntington, Md.

3rd Prize: Drew Suljak, Kelly Krob, & David LopezstudioRED / hord I coplan I macht, Baltimore

Best Use of Wood: Chris Melander & Ross SmithRTKL Associates, Baltimore

Best Curb Appeal: Randy M. Sovich & Jojo DuahRM Sovich Architecture, Baltimore

Most Cost-Effective: Jay OrrARQ Architects, Baltimore

Special recognition, Best Social Statement: Lisa M. Ferretto & Kallie Sternburghhord I coplan I macht, Baltimore; Janice RomanoskyPando Alliance, Millersville, Md.; Prescott Gaylord - Entellis Collaborative/Hamel Builders, Elkridge, Md.

Along with professional entries, an architecture class from nearby Morgan State University used the competition as a studio project, producing their own twists on the row house design and demonstrating for the community the promising talent still to come in the industry.

Ongoing Initiative

The Carbon Challenge 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.

"By designing with consideration to LCA, 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 designs showcase to the public the attainability and lifelong benefits of sustainably built, woodframed homes."

This fall, FPL and APA will host a series of educational seminars in the greater Baltimore and Providence areas to continue educating designers on the principles of low-carbon, lowenergy design.

The USDA announced a new emphasis on the use of green building materials in March 20 ll. Forest Service studies show that using wood products for building materials, instead of fossil-fuel-intensive alternatives, results in a smaller carbon footprint.

To view full entries of the winning designs, visit www.apawood.org/carbonchallense.