Swiss construction materials giant Holcim Ltd is setting up a worldwide prize competition for sustainable construction projects to promote future-proof solutions that meet the differing requirement of economic growth, environmental quality, and social responsibility. To provide a framework for this objective, the company has established the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Development, based in Zurich.

The foundation promotes and supports initiatives and projects that identify construction-related solutions to today's technological, ecologic, and socio-economic challenges and fuse these solutions with architectural excellence, and a high quality of life. A global competition will be launched with the goal of sensitizing architects, engineers, developers, and owners to the concept of sustainable construction and to reward them for outstanding achievements in this area.

In partnership with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and in collaboration with institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, the Tongji University in Shanghai, the University of Sao Paulo, and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, the foundation will be inviting entries for an international competition next year.

Projects will be judged and prizes awarded in two stages: in 2005, entries will be divided over five geographic regions depending on place of origin; the following year, competitors will be assessed at the global level. Only award-winning regional entries of model standard representing milestones in the development of sustainable construction will qualify for the subsequent global stage. Projects will be assess by juries made up of independent specialists working in the international arena. Prizes at both levels will total US$2 million per competition cycle.