PG&E and the American Institute of Architects, California Council, have announced the winners of the sixth annual Architecture at Zero competition for zero net energy (ZNE) building design. The competition has awarded six student and professional winners with a total of $25,000 in prizes.
For the sixth year of the competition, contestants designed ZNE housing at the San Francisco State University campus. With 60 entries, this year's competition garnered double the amount of applicants as in previous years. Applicants designed plans for student housing that will be ZNE, producing as much clean energy as is used during a year through energy efficiency and onsite renewable energy generation such as rooftop solar.
Winners for Professional Entries
Citation Award
"Piezien Circuit" by Modus Studio, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Merit Award
"Nexus" by DIALOG, Vancouver, Canada.
Merit Award
"Fog Catcher" Little, Charlotte, NC.
Winners for Student Entries
Special Recognition Award
"Sharing and Living," Student team from Tamkang University in Taipei, Taiwan.
Merit Award
"Communal Operations," by Steven Loutherback, Texas Tech.
Honor Award
"Energized Canopy" by Romain Dechavanne, Ecole Nationale Superior d' Architecture in Grenoble, France.
A panel of architecture, engineering and design experts chose this year's winners at an event on the San Francisco State University campus. Competition entries were juried by the following international experts: Paul Torcellini, Principal Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Allison Williams, FAIA, AECOM, Christopher Hawthorne, Architecture critic, Los Angeles Times, Gregg D. Ander, FAIA, President, Gregg D. Ander, LLC; Edward Dean, FAIA, Bernheim + Dean Inc.