Earth Day 2007: Museum features N.C. Sustainable Design Competition two years in a row
Students compete in statewide contest to design greener houses; winning design to be built by Self-Help
For immediate release – April 16, 2007
Science, environment, education reporters/editors
Contact: Emelia.Cowans@ncmail.net, 919.733.7450, ext. 305
RALEIGH – Green architecture takes center stage during Earth Day at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. The free event will be held Saturday, April 21, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can find an array of vendor stations on our first floor, highlighting green design technologies and the importance of protecting our environment. For the second year in a row, the Museum will also host the N.C. Sustainable Building Design Competition as the highlight of our Earth Day activities. A public awards ceremony will be held in the Museum's 1st floor auditorium at 2:30 p.m. (All designs will be on display on the Museum's 2nd through 4th floors until 4 p.m.)
The competition brings focus to the issue of sustainability and its application to real-world building design. It also proves to local and national audiences that homes built with green building practices can be affordable and mainstream. This year, Self-Help, a community development lender based in North Carolina, will be constructing the winning design of this year's state competition in Durham this summer.
The statewide first place winners will go on to represent North Carolina in the National Natural Talent Design Competition alongside other student teams as well as professional firms. Emerging Green Builders, a young professional group of the U.S. Green Building Council, will coordinate the national competition.
Last year's first place winner was NC State University, and their winning design was built in Catawba, Orange and Chatham counties by Habitat for Humanity affiliates in each county. NCSU went on to win first place in a three-way tie at the national competition, and was the only student team in that tie. The other two winners were professional firms.
The winning team will also receive a cash prize of $3,000 and will participate in a design charrette to turn the winning design into working plans to be used by Self-Help. The charrette will include the student team and faculty, professional designers and architects, and the builder. The second place winner receives $1,500, and third place winner, $500. Two honorable mention teams will be awarded $200.
For details about the competition and a complete list of participating schools, log on to www.sustainabledesigncompetitio
Invasive Plant Round-up at Prairie Ridge
Another free event the public can take advantage of on Earth Day is the Invasive Plant Round-up 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. Groups of 25 people will meet from 9 a.m. to Noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to cut down invasive plants that will be sent to a chipper. This event is a collaborative effort between the Museum and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Wake County Soil and Conservation District. Participants must be at least 18 years old and pre-registration is required. To register, contact Cathy Fergen via e-mail at Cathy.Fergen@ncmail.net.
For more information on any of the Earth Day activities, contact Steve Popson, Marketing Coordinator, at 919-733-7450, ext. 379 or Steve.Popson@ncmail.net.
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.
The N.C. Sustainable Building Design Competition is coordinated by Advanced Energy and the Triangle Emerging Green Builders. Advanced Energy is a Raleigh-based non-profit which works to that help utilities and residential and industrial customers improve their businesses through incorporating new energy-related technologies.
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