Congratulations to Team 210 on Winning the Design Competition & $10,000!

green|spaces is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that works to advance the sustainability of living, working, and building in Chattanooga and the surrounding region. We are hosting a design competition for the development of a series of next-generation houses that are environmentally and economically regenerative. To achieve this, the houses will need to produce as much energy as they consume, protect and promote the health of their occupants, and maximize water, material, and cost efficiency. This competition is intended as much as a teaching tool for regional design professionals and builders as it is a means to arrive at the best possible design solution for a challenging site with high performance goals for energy, water, materials, and health. The quality, budget, and feasibility of the designs are especially important as we intend to work with the winning team to develop a complete set of construction documents, and then build their design on the site, subject to financial and regulatory approval at each phase. 

Teams shall consist of at least one architect/designer, one engineer, and one contractor/manufacturer, all of whom must be practicing, teaching, or building within a 200 mile radius of the project site, but teams can include additional members outside of that region. Licensure of the architect and engineer team members is highly recommended, but not required. Licensure of the contractor/manufacturer is required (contractors licensed in their local jurisdiction, but not Chattanooga, are eligible to be team members, but will not be eligible to participate in Phase II of the project). Student teams are encouraged to enter but must have the support of at least one licensed architect or engineer in addition to the required licensed contractor for budget development. Individuals may be part of more than one team and may serve more than one role on the same team if qualified by virtue of experience or education (i.e. an architect could also serve as the engineer if they provide engineering services in their professional practice or hold a degree in engineering).  Teams may enter more than one design, but must pay separate registration fees for every solution entered. 

Design Competition Schedule

Registration Opens: June 10, 2014

Registration Closes: July 7, 2014 5:00PM

Entry Deadline: August 16, 2014 5:00PM

Final Awards Announced: September 16, 2014 7:30AM-9:00AM at Loose Cannon

Awards

Phase I–Design Competition

The winning team of the design competition will be awarded $10,000 in addition to public recognition at the awards event, on the green|spaces website, and in all press releases. Five finalists will receive $1,000 each and public recognition at the awards event, on the green|spaces website, and in all press releases. An undefined number of merit award winners will receive public recognition at the awards event, the selection committee will name merit award winners at their sole discretion. 

Phase II–Construction Documents

Design Team: Upon moving into the second phase of the project, if approved, the winning design team will be offered the commission to prepare contract documents for construction through an integrated project delivery process along with the contractor selected through the Phase II RFQ process (see below). We project a design fee of 7% of the hard construction cost not to exceed $65,000 for the entire project in addition to the $10,000 first prize for the production of complete contract documents with civil, architectural, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical drawings and specifications for construction and including construction administration services. Specific terms and conditions will be negotiated upon approval of Phase II of the project. 

Contractors: Upon moving into the second phase of the project, if approved, all contractors participating in the competition who are locally licensed will be invited to participate in the Phase II Request for Qualifications. The contractor will be selected based on the review of their qualifications, their performance in the design competition, and final interviews and, if selected by the committee through the RFQ process, will be awarded the work through an integrated project delivery process. Specific terms and conditions will be negotiated upon approval of Phase II of the project. 

Phase III–Construction

Specific incentives will be identified for all parties of the project team through the integrated project delivery process for on-time, under-budget and high-performance completed construction. Specific terms and conditions will be negotiated during Phase II.

Entry Fee

green|spaces corporate and individual members will be required to submit a non-refundable entry fee of $50 for every design they wish to submit. Non-members will be required to submit a non-refundable entry fee of $100 for every design they wish to submit. 

See Member Benefits for more information on becoming a green|spaces corporate or individual member.

Deliverables

Each team will be required to submit an electronic package containing the following in .PDF or .JPG format. Each team will be provided a number to associate with their design and this number should be kept confidential. No information identifying team members or firms will be permitted on submitted material. Entries that do not comply with this requirement will be disqualified. Standard forms for performance and budget should be submitted in their original .XLS format. No printed material will be required. Teams will maintain copyright of their design and submitted material, but will grant green|spaces unlimited use of their submitted material for the purposes of the project and future education with credit given to the design team.

• 22x34 summary board which presents the design as a whole. The summary board should include drawings, diagrams, renderings, and text to succinctly convey the most important aspects of the design. The summary boards will be the primary public presentation of the winner, finalists, and merit award winners so it should stand on its own to represent your design. 
•  Site plan
• Passive design diagram
• Schematic floor plans
• Schematic elevations
• Schematic sections
• Example composite wall section including details of floor, wall, and roof assemblies
• General, Performance, Site, Architectural, MEP, and Construction Narratives
• Annual energy budget with itemized assumptions for energy consumption and renewable production
• Completed performance form for HERS rating (format provided in entry package)
• Completed schematic budget form (format provided in entry package)
• Completed checklist from recommended rating system
• Results of energy modeling, life cycle analysis, or other performance modeling (optional)
• Other diagrams, renderings, drawings, or information (optional)

Program

Site

The site is located at 677 and 703 Hamilton Ave. between Hamilton Ave. and North Market St. The site does not include the adjacent right-of-way for Chambliss to the North, but improvements to the right-of-way can and should be included in the design solution for public use. Please see the site plan below for reference. The combined site is 138.07'(E-W) x 139.52' (N-S). 

The grade change from East to West on the site varies from approximately 50'-0" to 60'-0". While presenting a challenge, this type of site is not uncommon in Chattanooga and successfully addressing the topography will inform future residential development in the city. 

A row of townhouses is located on the adjacent site to the south, and a series of detached single family homes is located across the undeveloped right-of-way to the north.

The current zoning of lot 677 is C-7 Northshore Commercial/Mixed Use and the current zoning of lot 703 is R-2 Residential. Pending regulatory approval of the winning design, the lots may be combined and rezoned to R-T/Z Zero Lot Line Residential in Urban Overlay Zone. Please refer to Chapter 38 of City Code found here for zoning regulations. Individual meetings will be organized for teams who elect to meet privately with city planning staff about their designs after registration is closed. Specific questions about viability of designs with regard to compliance with the R-T/Z zone or questions with regard to other zoning options can be asked during these times and team information will remain confidential. 

While R-T/Z is strongly recommended as the zoning for the purpose of the design, if solutions require other zoning types, such as C-7, teams will need to verify their design is consistent with the referenced North Shore Plan and Design Guidelines and designs will be subject to an additional design review. 

A minimum of four single-family detached houses shall be located on the site which, subject to regulatory approval, will be re-plated according to the winning design for fee-simple sale. Each unit should have a minimum of three bedrooms and two full bathrooms with a maximum of 2000 GSF. One of the required bedrooms can be convertible to and from another space type. If more than four units are included on the site, please justify the decision in the narrative.

Design Requirements

Design solutions must respond to the architectural, cultural, and environmental context and will be judged on the quality of their beauty and livability in addition to the minimum performance requirements below. The ultimate goal of this project will be to sell the houses on the local market and therefore designs should consider local home-buyer needs for aesthetics, cost, and function. 

In addition to the consideration of passive solar design, the positioning of the houses and other design elements on the site should respond to the two bordering roads (North Market and Hamilton) and bordering public right-of-way easement (Chambliss). Additionally, the incorporation of the steep slope into the site design should be strongly considered. 

Performance Requirements

Energy: Produce as much energy as you consume.  The development as a whole must be site net zero at a minimum (energy consumed on site over the course of a year is less than or equal to energy generated on site over the course of the same year).  Renewable energy production can be provided for each unit, concentrated on site to serve the entire development, or a combination of the two. In order to achieve net-zero energy, teams must maximize energy efficiency and passive strategies and then consider the integration of active on-site generation of renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic panels. Teams should model a year of performance to ensure their assumptions for utility consumption and renewable energy production result in a zero balance at minimum. Energy modeling assumptions and reporting formats are included in the entry packet.

Health: Protect and promote health. Incorporate elements that improve human health and specifically avoid materials that have potential negative impacts on human health.  The configuration of the site, configuration of the spaces, inclusion of additional programmatic elements, and material selection should protect and promote the health of the occupants, the community, and the local environment. Consider the incorporation of bicycle infrastructure for ease-of-use, incorporation of urban agriculture and biophilia, and use of materials that have Health Product Declarations (HPD's) or are ILFI Declare-Labeled.

Water: Reduce and reuse potable water and rainwater. Minimize potable water use with low-flow toilets, faucets, and appliances. Minimize impervious surfaces and retain storm water from the roof and other impervious surfaces for reuse in the building or for landscaping/urban agriculture. Quantify the reduction and reuse of storm water and potable water on site. 

Materials: Cradle to cradle, assemble and disassemble. Consider life cycle impacts and the efficiency of construction and deconstruction of the buildings. Recommend high-quality materials that have Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) and are durable, local, reused, recycled, or bio-based. Provide design features that minimize the production of waste in day to day operations of the home.  See health performance requirements for materials as well. 

Technology: Wired for the future. The houses will incorporate next-generation communications to provide telecommuting and telepresence potential to the occupants and allow smart appliances to communicate with the occupants, each other, and the smart grid. How the houses and site integrate and leverage next-generation communications will be considered. 

Rating System Requirements

The development will pursue 3rd party certification. Make a recommendation for the rating system(s) the project should pursue and justify your recommendation.  Potential examples include: LEED for Homes, ILFI Living Building Challenge, ILFI Net Zero Energy Building, PHIUS Passive House, Enterprise Green Communities, EPA Energy Star 3.0, TVA Energy Right, EarthCraft, and Earth Advantage Net Zero.

Budget Requirements

Teams will be judged on their ability to minimize costs while achieving high levels of performance. Make each component in the building work harder by serving more than one purpose and incorporate savings from offsets such as smaller HVAC systems for reduced heating and cooling loads from a tight, well-insulated envelope. The maximum budget for hard construction costs shall be $140/SF including contractor fees, site development and renewable energy and excluding land purchase, design fees, and rating system costs.  A standardized budget format will be provided as part of the entry package. Submitted budgets should include no assumptions for donations or at-cost products or services. Budgets will be peer-reviewed as part of the judging process for reasonable accuracy. 

Alternative financing strategies for renewable energy equipment on site will be considered on their merits and availability. 

Registration has closed for this competition.

While the registration for teams has closed, you can still support the teams that have already registered. Please leave your name and contact info on this form and teams will be in touch if they need help. Students are encouraged to participate!

Click Here to Offer Your Support to a Team
     

Questions?

Have questions? See our Question and Answer Page!