APA announces Florida Carbon Challenge

Who can design a home with the lowest carbon footprint? That’s the challenge being presented by APA in the Florida Carbon Challenge, a design competition to take place throughout Florida in November and December, 2010.

The competition will call for single-family home designs suitable for construction in Northeast Florida. To aid designers in determining how various building components and designs impact the carbon footprint of a home, APA is working with the Athena Institute to provide a Residential Eco-Calculator, a free software tool that uses life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to determine the environmental impact of design choices. The software will include data for many combinations of common building materials for floors, walls, and roofs, as well as finish materials.

Complete details and design requirements for the challenge will be presented at a series of kick-off events in several Florida locations in October and November. Entries must be submitted by Dec. 22, 2010.

The winning entries will be announced in January at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando. APA is offering more than $10,000 in prizes for the winning designers. In addition, the grand prize winning design will be evaluated in a comprehensive life cycle assessment study that compares the design in full wood-frame construction versus construction on concrete slab with concrete block walls. The results of the LCA study will be shared in a series of seminars planned for 2011.

Founded in 1933 and based in Tacoma, Washington, APA represents approximately 160 plywood, oriented strand board, glulam timber, wood I-joist, Rim Board and laminated veneer lumber mills throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its primary functions are quality auditing and testing, applied research, and market support and development.

The Athena Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides the building community with software, databases, and customized consulting services that support the evaluation of the environmental impacts of new and existing buildings through life cycle assessment (LCA).