N.C. Sustainable Building Design
Competition creates "green" house
effect at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences
Environmentally friendly home design competition, the highlight for Earth Day
activities
March 27, 2006
Spend an exciting, educational and eco-friendly day at the N.C.
Museum of Natural Sciences on Earth Day, Saturday, April
22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can find exhibits
about the protection of our environment, exciting guest speakers,
and much more. Free. As an added bonus the Museum, for the
first time, is hosting the N.C. Sustainable Building Design Competition
with a public awards ceremony beginning in the Museum's 1st floor
auditorium at 2:30 p.m.
Student teams from nine area colleges and universities participated in this year's
competition, which is sponsored by the Museum along with Advanced Energy, Progress
Energy, Duke Power and others. Each team created home designs for a particular
region of North Carolina. Twenty designs displayed on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors
of the Museum will be judged on energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor
air quality, universal design, use of locally available materials and more. Three
winning designs will be built by Habitat for Humanity. (For details about
the competition and a complete list of participating schools log onto http://www.advancedenergy.org/sbdc/about/) Now
in its sixth year, the competition continues to grow and improve, making
significant strides with the number of colleges and entries increasing each year.
Building on the theme, a display with live animals will focus on the architects
of the animal world, and children can design their own "green home" in a craft
activity. In addition, several educational stations will be dedicated to environmentally
friendly home design and two presentations will be held in the auditorium entitled "Bringing
NC's Affordable Housing Closer to Zero Energy Performance" and "Building for
Zero Energy in North Carolina" starting at 10:30 a.m. Smokey Bear and "Clair," the
mascot for the Triangle Air Awareness group, will also be on hand giving tips
on air awareness and wildfire prevention.
For the bird lover, a free, early-morning bird walk will be held at 7:30 a.m.
at Prairie Ridge, the Museum's 30-acre field station for eco-learning, located
on Reedy Creek Rd. between the Edwards Mill Ext. and Blue Ridge Road. The
tour will be led by bird enthusiast and Director of Prairie Ridge, Mary Ann Brittain. Participants
can pre-register by calling 919.733.7450, ext. 675 or e-mailing mary.ann.brittain@ncmail.net.
For more information on any of the Earth Day festivities, contact Erin MacEntee,
Curator of Educational Events at 919.733.7450, ext. 502 or erin.macentee@ncmail.net.
Earth Day exhibitors include:
Advanced Energy
Green Power
Triangle Air Awareness
NC Division of Forest Resources
WakeMed
Wake Habitat for Humanity
Enertia Building Systems
Greenville Revitalization Project
ASU
Sustainable Energy Society
EV Challenge-trailer parked outside
on Plaza or Jones Street
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 am to 5 pm, and Sun., noon to 5 pm. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the Web at naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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