The second Holcim Awards competition to promote sustainable construction worldwide is now open. The Holcim Awards are an international competition for projects that embody approaches to meet the present-day needs for housing and infrastructure without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs in times to come.

The Holcim Awards are supported in North America by the Holcim Ltd group companies Holcim (US) Inc., St. Lawrence Cement, and Aggregate Industries. Entries in the competition can be submitted until Feb. 29, 2008 at www.holcimawards.org. The prize money for the five regional competitions and the global awards totals $2 million. The Awards are an initiative of the Swiss-based Holcim Foundation to encourage and inspire a built environment that goes beyond convention to address the challenges of sustainability.

The global competition showcases sustainable responses to technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affecting contemporary building and construction. The Awards are open to anyone involved with projects in the area of sustainable construction — architects, planners, engineers, or project owners. All building projects are eligible for the competition if construction had not started before June 1 of this year. The first phase of the competition will select regional winners in 2008 that will automatically qualify for the global competition to be held in 2009.

In addition to construction projects at an advanced stage of design, the Awards competition seeks visions and ideas at a conceptual level. This special category is open for professionals younger than 35 years of age.

Submissions in the Awards competition are evaluated by independent juries in five regions of the world, using a five-point definition of sustainable construction. These so-called “target issues” serve as a yardstick to measure the degree to which a building contributes to sustainable development. Three of the five target issues align with the primary goals of the Rio Agenda: balanced environmental, social, and economic performance.

The juries will be headed by internationally renowned architects and academics: Harry Gugger, architect and author, Switzerland (Europe); Adele Naude Santos, Dean of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA (North America); Jose Luis Cortes, Dean of Architecture, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico (Latin America); Joe Addo, architect, Ghana (Africa-Middle East); and Ashok Lall, architect, India (Asia Pacific). Charles Correa, architect, India, will chair the jury of the global Holcim Awards competition.