Posted by Heidi Schwartz
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has joined American Institute of Architects San Francisco chapter (AIASF), in partnership with Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC), to announce the opening of the third annual Architecture at Zero competition for zero net energy (ZNE) building designs. ZNE buildings produce as much clean energy as they use during a year through a combination of designed energy efficiency and on-site, grid-tied renewable energy production.
The Architecture at Zero competition is open to all entrants, including designers, academics, researchers, and students. To help generate innovative ideas for zero net energy building designs, the Architecture at Zero competition will focus on the design of a zero net energy mixed-rate housing complex, including market rate and affordable housing, in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.
This is the third year that PG&E and AIASF have held the Architecture at Zero competition. Past competition sites have included University of California, Merced in 2012 and an urban infill site in Emeryville, CA. The competition supports an action plan of the California Public Utilities Commission for all new residential construction in California to be zero net energy by 2020. The goal for new commercial construction is to achieve zero net energy by 2030.
International experts will judge the entries and award up to $25,000 in total prizes in November. The deadline for entries is October 1, 2013.
