SBIC Expands Beyond Green™ Awards to Include Building Attributes, Systems, Innovations
The National Institute of Building Sciences
Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) has expanded the categories for its 2013 Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building Awards. The awards program, which issued its 2013 Call for Entries today, will now highlight five building-related categories, in addition to honoring leaders in the high-performance building industry.
“There are many exciting things going on in the building industry and SBIC wanted to specifically recognize those activities, projects and innovations that advance high-performance buildings,” said Ryan Colker, J.D., who is Program Director for the Council.
Each year, the Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building Awards recognize those initiatives that shape, inform and catalyze the high-performance building market, as well as the real-world application of high-performance design and construction practices.
The SBIC Board, taking into account the numerous ways to achieve high-performance buildings, decided to make significant changes to the Beyond Green™ Awards in the 2013 iteration. The long-standing awards for high-performance buildings, initiatives and products will remain (with minor updates, including a requirement that all buildings have at least one year of performance data). The Council also added two award categories to recognize building projects that focus on enhancing individual building systems or attributes, as well as innovations in design processes, contracting, code administration, insurance and research. In total, the categories include: High-Performance Buildings; High-Performance Attributes and Systems; High-Performance Initiatives; High-Performance Products; and Innovations for High-Performance Buildings; as well as the Greg Franta Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to high-performance, sustainable building design and construction. In addition, the entire application process is now available online, which should make it easier for people to submit entries.
In past years, the awards primarily focused on sustainability, energy-efficiency and green-related building features. In 2013, the Council wanted to incorporate the whole-building design aspects of other Institute programs. Therefore, the new categories reflect the areas on which Institute programs focus, such as building enclosure design; codes and standards; and facility maintenance and operations, and the important role they play in achieving high-performance buildings.
Once selected, the winners of the Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building Awards will be invited to present their projects and receive their awards at a special Beyond Green™ Awards Luncheon, sponsored by Lehigh Hanson, to be held during Building Innovation 2014: The National Institute of Building Sciences Conference and Expo, the week of January 6-10, 2014. The awards presentation and poster session gives winners an opportunity to share directly with leaders in the building community, highlighting the challenges and opportunities they faced while delivering high-performance buildings.
Winning projects will be published on the
WBDG Whole Building Design Guide® website. Additional recognition will include an announcement in the Institute’s newsletter, a plaque, posting of the case study on the
SBIC website and potential inclusion in future SBIC technical guidelines and publications.
The deadline to apply for the 2013 Beyond Green™ Awards is Friday, November 1, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. EST. Take this opportunity to recognize a deserving high-performance project.
Submit an entry today!