Reimagine Structure

Submit your vision for reducing energy consumption in the 
built environment by minimizing a building’s embodied energy.

The Metals in Construction magazine 2017 Design Challenge invites architects and engineers to reduce embodied energy by submitting their design for a high-rise building that integrates its enclosure with its structure. Substituting a hybrid frame and skin structure for the typical aluminum-and-glass curtain wall can eliminate material that is structurally inert in the typical 10 to 15 pounds-per-square-foot facade assembly, minimizing the materials used in the building’s construction. Studies show that the amount of CO2 emissions embodied in producing construction materials accounts for more than 50 percent of the energy consumed during a building’s lifetime. In highly energy efficient buildings, embodied emissions can account for almost 300 percent of that energy consumption.

Your design must fully integrate the building’s systems that provide environmental protection and resistance to wind and seismic forces. Entries will be judged on the amount of embodied energy reduced in the form of building mass, as well as on the overall performance of the enclosure.

Metals in Construction will award a $15,000 cash prize  to the design judged to exhibit the greatest innovation, efficiency, and aesthetic integrity in achieving these objectives. The grand prize winner will be announced and the winning design featured prominently in a half-day ideas conference at New York City’s TimesCenter on February 24, 2017. The deadline for entries is February 1, 2017.

Design Brief

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