National Finalists of the 2010 Natural Talent Design Competition

The U.S. Green Building Council announced the four finalists for its 2010 Natural Talent Design Competition, which gives students and emerging professionals the opportunity to apply sustainable design principles to the ongoing the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. The jury deliberation at the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in the Broadmoor neighborhood in New Orleans and the announcement of finalists occurred in conjunction with the release of a five-year retrospective update released by USGBC earlier this week.

After a day of deliberation, the jury selected two student and two emerging professional teams whose designs for small, affordable, ADA-compliant (American Disabilities Act), LEED Platinum homes demonstrated innovative green building principles and will save the future homeowners money over the life-cycle of the home. These designs maintained respect for the Broadmoor aesthetic and respected the opinion of the neighborhood as captured by the community vote, held earlier in the summer.

The four finalists are:

Emerging Professional Team: "The Little Easy", USGBC Connecticut Chapter
This team first came together when they led Cornell University's 2005 DOE Solar Decathlon Team. After graduation, the group founded ZeroEnergy Design, an architecture and energy consulting firm as well as FreeGreen.com. Their design included an "outdoor living room" - a porch that functioned as an extended room, a wheel chair lift, providing greater ease to elderly or disabled homeowners and a storm water collection system.

View their designs: http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/little-easy

Emerging Professional Team: "RAMPed Up", Urban Green USGBC New York City Chapter
The team from Buro Happold Consulting Engineers and Rogers Marvel Architects placed high importance on a structural system that resists both gravity, wind and flood, strategically placed windows and ceiling fans to promote passive ventilation during fall and spring and a rainwater harvesting system to mitigate storm water runoff, reducing the impact of heavy rains on the city's overburdened storm drainage system and covering 100% of the home's irrigation demand.

View their designs: http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/ramped_up

Student Finalist Team "E.A.S.Y. House", USGBC Green Building Alliance Pittsburgh
The E.A.S.Y. (Efficiency. Accessibility. Safety. You) House is an ambitious design and was the single effort of five-year Carnegie Mellon architecture student, Wuijoon Ha - the only one-person design finalist. His design built is to be easy on every aspect with the design focused on the many functional aspects of the house including operable skylights, a green roof and a wheelchair lift.

View the design: http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/easy_house

Student Finalist Team "Greenboy Productions",USGBC Hawaii Chapter
This team from the University of Hawaii includes members from Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States(Los Angeles and Las Vegas). Their design created an affordable, adaptable and accessible home elevated to 8'-0" above grade allowing the space below the home to serve as a carport. An integrated ramp and stair system quickly brings the owner and visitors to the side entry where the structure splits Las Vegas through the center of the East and West elevations creating an inviting side patio with integrated local fauna at the elevated level allowing passive ventilation to draw air from the cool air below the structure.

View their design: http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/greenboy_design

"USGBC is honored to be hosting the 2010 Natural Talent Design Competition in New Orleans - this competition represents years of dedication to the Gulf Coast region particularly in areas with underserved populations that are arguably the most in need of sustainable, affordable homes and buildings," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. "USGBC's commitment to New Orleans extends beyond the competition, as we've worked to have the Recovery School District build all schools to LEED, the Make It Right community is the largest grouping of LEED Platinum homes in the country, and we have advocated for and supported city-wide environmental goals such as 30% energy reduction among all municipal buildings."

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