RALEIGH -- And the winner is… the Appalachian State University team of Caroline Shillito, Jason Revalee and Nicholas Farrar! Caroline, Jason and Nicholas recently secured their victory and $5,000 first prize check at the North Carolina Sustainable Design Competition by using an innovative and south facing passive solar design. Everyone in North Carolina won as well, because according to contest officials, this design and the others in the competition are setting a new standard for housing that has minimal impact on the environment and provides a better quality home, especially in our hurricane prone environment.

The winning design included many innovations including double glazing and heat mirror glass, structural insulated panels, an integrated rainwater landscape system, a saferoom, hurricane resistant design, and features for easy wheelchair access throughout the structure including a stepless entry and wide doors. With hurricane season starting, this type of design is especially appropriate for this time of year.

The contest was partially funded with a Hazard Mitigation Grant from the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management and FEMA, and the hazard resistant features make the home sustainable for the life of the home.

The Appalachian team prevailed in a demanding contest that involved 97 students in 25 teams from Appalachian State University, North Carolina A&T, East Carolina University, and Pitt Community College. Each team had to address five key elements of sustainable design and develop an eye catching project display that was innovative, technically correct and that included design budget and technical analysis sufficient to win the approval of a panel of distinguished judges. Each of the 12 finalist teams came to North Carolina State University April 27th after qualifying in regional contests. The winning design just completed the full design review and is presently the subject of an intense definition process to prepare it for a proposed building project.

Second place and a check for $3,000 went to the Pitt Community College team of Hillary Davis, Jennie Cook, James Jones and Wendy Eubanks who are part of the Architectural Technology program. The third prize winners are Aprille Bethel, Vincent Spencer, Geanine Rollins and Omar Joyner from North Carolina A&T and they received a prize of $1,500.

Special Recognition prizes were given to the Appalachian State University teams of Elizabeth Deal, Brad Gross, Matt Thrasher, Joseph Massie, Jordan Yee, and the team of Jamie Beard, Eric Walthers, and Ryan Shough. An honorable mention award also went to the Pitt Community College team of John Berry, Kevin Skinner, James Brazeal and Maurey Umphlett.

Phil Mayrand of Topsail Island initiated the contest in 2001 as part of a five-year process to develop sustainable designs for all regions of the state. Eleven teams made up of 35 students completed the first design competition. The first contest focused on a coastal design, which is now being built on Topsail Island.

This year's competition focused on the Coastal Plain and the winning design is being made into drawings for future construction in Greenville, North Carolina. This year the contest expanded to four colleges and next year will include all interested schools in the University of North Carolina system.

Sponsors for this years contest were the American Institute of Building Designers, Coastal Tech Homes, Blue Sky Foundation, NC Solar Center, NC Sustainable Energy Association, Eastern NC Sustainable Center, NC State Energy Office, NC Electric Membership Cooperatives, Greenville Utilities and Advanced Energy.

When asked why the contest was initiated, Mayrand spoke for the sponsors and said, "We feel it to be imperative that we make major changes in addressing the needs of our existing housing, and make major changes in how we design and build our new buildings so that they are sustainable. Our need to preserve our environment, the economic and social implications of being wasteful, and the limits of our resources demand it."

The Sustainable Design Competition included five general design objectives that students were judged on. Competition entries were required to:

1. Design for the present use of passive solar and the future use of active solar, and/or other renewable energy sources.
2. Allow for the most cost-efficient and energy efficient methods and materials.
3. Consider the use of green building materials and methods to achieve the best possible indoor air quality.
4. Include house fortification and design to the 1% annual risk factor for hazards, and include a safe area.
5. Consider elements of Universal Design to allow for possible future wheelchair access.

Sustainable design takes advantage of the resources and processes of development that minimize environmental impact while increasing the comfort, durability, safety and efficiency of the structure.

In the contest the students were asked to consider appearance and keeping with local vernacular, structural integrity, durability and storm/disaster resistance, envelope integrity including insulation, air tightness, and moisture migration. With an eye to global issues of oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions students were asked to approach zero fossil fuel energy use as well as to address indoor environmental issues such as air quality. Space efficiency, a design that can be used in low cost affordable housing, consideration of ways to minimize operation and maintenance, and consideration of life-cycle costing and resource efficiency were part of the curriculum.

Mayrand said, "It is our hope that this project will have many spin-off benefits by making inroads in new construction products and methods and that the homes developed by these future designers will incorporate sustainable design elements throughout their careers."

The teams learned a lot about teamwork, time management, and sustainable issues. More importantly, they reported that by designing a real home for a real person on a real budget, they developed a better appreciation for the relationship between their academic studies and real life sustainable applications.

After hundreds of hours of work, decisions, and calculations, all the students who participated are ready to build a more sustainable future. Caroline Shillito summed up the impact of the contest while speaking at the award ceremony when she said, "This contest was the best learning experience in my college career and it changed my life."

Sustainable designs may change all our lives for the better.