Garbon Ghallenge Greelr'nrinded design contest

neighborhood. It was held in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and AIA Rhode Island, and was supported by sponsors LP Building Products and Boise Cascade.

Boston-base d ZeroEner gy 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 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.

fJtHts sPRrNG. ARCHTTECTs from L 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 and APA, the competition 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 challenge focused on two types of homes in two cities-a single-family Habitat for Humanity house in Providence, R.I., and an urban row house in Baltimore, Md. Using lifecycle assessment software from the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, designers could 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 productssuch 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 winners, whose designs were judged on their life-cycle assessment score, aesthetic appeal, cost effectiveness. and use of wood.

For Carbon Challenge Providence, entrants were tasked with designing a Habitat for Humanity house for a vacant lot in the city's Olneyville

"This design is very buildable and beautifully represented," noted one judge. "It fits the context of the neighborhood very well."

For Carbon Challenge Baltimore, cntfunt\ \\'crc askcd to uprlutc iconic t'ou l.torrscs in a vacunt block in the citr''s Olivcr ncighborhoocl. Thc contest \\'AS hcltl in paftncfshil) ri ith thc city ancl AIA Baltimorc. anrl \\lrs supportccl b1'sl)onsors LP. Boisc ('rrscuilc. and RoscbLrr9 Forc-st ProclLrcts. Phillip .lortcs. rr ith BlLltinror.c-lrlsccl Cho Bcnn Holhuck + Associa(cs. clesigncd tlic wirrnin-g conccllt. u rrrotl crn take on 1hc lrlclitional rot lrouse Itaturing an ol)cr) l'Joor plan thal nlLr,i rnizes cla1,'light: u ri irlcr. senri cnclosc(l ll'ont "stool)." unti u roof cleck u ith cor crcd ;lncl uncor crccl entertlrirrinl. arcrrs. green roolirrg s)'stcnr. ilncl s()lur' hot ri ater collcctors. 'f he clesigrr's r-unrnrccl-ealth corrstnrclion. a highlr cllicicnt builcling nrcthorl that stofc\ hcat in the r"'intcl rihilc [rloeking it in thc strrnrlcr. contrihLrtcrl sisniticuntlv to its Ioricr cilrbon lirotprint.

"'l'his ucll-conccivccl lnrl wellclcsignccl rcsidencc provirlcs conrfbltablr' prol.rortionccl. usul-rlc lir ing spaccs with rranv clcsinrblc lclrtLrlcs. inclucling an cntf\'\'cstillLr lc. li ntud roonr/plurtrr. lncl a sccor.trl l'lool rlcn r"'ith laLrncllr ." suicl one .iurt' nrcrnbcr.

Along n itlr protessional cntrics. arr architccturc e luss fronr neurby Morsurr Stlte I rrir !'r'\il\ lr\cLl llre torrr|t'liliorr as a stu(lio Pftr.jcct. proclLrcirrr: thcir' own twisls on thc rou hclusc tlcsisn and demonstnttinq lirl thc connrunitr the pronrising talcnt still tcl conrc in thc industrl.

'fhe Carbon Chlllcngc is tlcsigncd l() tiri\c it\\ ilt('ll\'\\ trl' tltt' t'nr iltlntrrt'rr tal bcnefits clf wood constructior.r. lxrrticulurly the carbon ncr,ltralitl of u ootl as l building nratcriul. arrr.l to prontotc thc usc of lif'e cvclc irsscssnrcnt tools.

To vicu all u innins rlcsigns. r'isit \\'\\'\\' .apa\\'ood.ctrgrclrrbonc ha I le nge.

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