Back in late October we attended the APA – The Engineered Wood Association’s Carbon Challenge Florida Design Competition Kickoff in at RiverTown in St. Johns, Florida and decided it would be fun to enter a competition that looked at both the aesthetics of the design and the ability to design a home with the lowest carbon footprint, while having to meet the design guidelines required by the RiverTown development.  This was the second competition that we entered this year, back in March we entered the Free Green Who’s Next competition.

About the competition:

APA is challenging Florida designers to design a house with the lowest carbon footprint (least CO₂ emissions) in the Carbon Challenge Florida Design Competition. $15,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the winning entries, determined by a performance score based on a scientific life-cycle assessment (LCA), cost-effectiveness, and adherence to the architectural standards of a typical Florida development.

Designer registration for the Carbon Challenge closed on November 22, 2010. Final submittals from registered participants are due by December 20. All designs submitted will be reviewed by a panel of judges and cash prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place, as well as three honorable mention categories, including best use of wood products, best curb-appeal and most cost-effective design. Each participant will receive a free residential version of the EcoCalculator software from the Athena Institute to determine the life-cycle assessment global warming potential score. View the complete design requirements & rules.

Designing Homes for a Healthier Planet:

Fossil fuel use and climate change are widely regarded today as critical environmental issues. The common denominator for both concerns are greenhouse gases (CO₂e) that are emitted into the atmosphere when fossil fuels such as oil and coal are burned for energy, or when organic materials decay. It is widely held that greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere and in sufficient quantities can contribute to climate change. APA is encouraging home designers to meet this environmental challenge by designing homes that have lower carbon footprints.

Well on Tuesday we received this email from the competition organizers:

Congratulations! Your submittal has been selected as one of the six winners in the Florida Carbon Challenge! I hope you will be able to join us in Orlando at the awards ceremony where the Grand Prize, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, Best Use of Wood, Best Curb Appeal and Most Cost-Effective winners will be honored.

So fantastic news: we’ve won….something. We’ll let you guys know as soon as we can after January 13th where we came in at! Wish us luck…

We chose to do a bit of a modern interpretation of the American Farm House, one of the approved architectural styles for the RiverTown development. We looked to maximize space in the smallest footprint while meeting the competition guidelines, incorporated an open plan for the public spaces, and made the project as cost effective as possible.

A few images of our entry are below: