About the competition
The N.C. Sustainable Building Design Competition [NCSBDC] began in 2000 as a way to engage students in universities, colleges and community colleges to learn and apply the lessons of sustainable design and construction. Each year statewide winners see their design built as part of the grand prize. The program is currently administered by Advanced Energy and began as a collaboration with the Triangle Emerging Green Builder Natural Talent Design Competition in 2006.

Vision
Little change has occurred in the practices governing the design and construction of buildings over the past century. Growing crises in water and air quality call for vast changes in building design, materials and methods of construction. It is imperative that the retrofit of existing buildings and design of new buildings embody the innovation needed to forge an ecologically sustainable future — that is a future which is healthy and viable for the planet and all its inhabitants. The North Carolina Sustainable Building Design Competition [NCSBDC] emerged to address the growing concerns over ecological sustainability and the role of the design building industries for a healthy, viable future. The NCSBDC’s goals lead toward this future by:

• Developing student competency in sustainable building design
• Fostering meaningful exchange between industry and academia
• Ushering innovation into the design and building industry relative to sustainability

It is our desire that all new and remodeling construction projects employ sustainable guidelines. It is hoped that these practices will spur the development of guideline specifications for four zones in North Carolina (coastal, coastal plain, piedmont, mountain), and, this model (based on geographical zones) will spread throughout the United States and the world.

Competition Background
Sustainable building design strives to integrate old and new technologies with ecological and cultural values. The design/build industry is discovering the importance of making a minimal negative environmental impact. Sustainable technologies are also emerging that address energy and water use, indoor air quality, building durability, renewable energy and more. By intertwining sustainable concepts in education and existing design/build businesses, communities will use a “whole systems” approach to develop North Carolina’s sustainable industry.

The North Carolina Sustainable Building Design Competition [NCSBDC] believes that cooperation among all interest groups and academic disciplines is a prerequisite to innovation leading to a sustainable future. Teams in the past years have discovered an advantage of involving students outside the design and construction fields. The interdisciplinary approach tends to give full consideration of all effects of construction rather than focusing on isolated interests. While providing a demonstration and collaborative project, the competition helps students enter the workforce with more experience and expertise in sustainable design.

The NCSBDC was established in 2000 by L. Phillip Mayrand Jr., in honor of his deceased father, L.P. Mayrand Sr. In NCSBDC’S first year, Mayrand partnered with Appalachian State University to encourage its students to compete. To date, new schools enter the competition each year with over 1,420 students participating to date.

Students participating in the competition are given the opportunity to design a residential structure that is later constructed. The students, in collaboration with industry professionals, create a home for a family that is also used as a model sustainable building. Each, year students are given the design challenge for a specific family profile in a specific region of North Carolina.

Student involvement begins with a Spring kick-off informational event at each school to learn about the design challenge. This includes a description of the client [a family profile], the lot [chosen earlier in the year] and the design elements and requirements. Following the kick-off event, students spend the remainder of the semester working with their professor/mentor designing the home.

Students must receive course credit for participating, but it is not required that they be in an academic field typically associated with construction or design. Interdisciplinary and cross-school teams are strongly encouraged and professors or industry professionals help guide student teams through the academic semester.

The student design must incorporate features and technologies addressing areas such as:

• Energy efficiency
• Renewable energy
• Building science
• Indoor environmental quality
• Water efficiency
• Material selection
• Hazard mitigation
• Community and historic preservation
• Universal design
• Affordability

Each school hosts a local competition to determine which teams advance to the state competition. Cash prizes are awarded to winning teams. Following the annual state competition, the winning student team, mentors/professors, builders, professional architects, building scientists and housing experts gather for a post-competition charrette to bring the winning design into working plans.

In addition to the chance to see their design constructed, statewide winners will represent the Triangle Emerging Green Builders in the Emerging Green Builder Natural Talent Design Competition during the Greenbuild conference. The team will have the opportunity to gain national exposure and compete for additional prizes.