VELUX announces the 1st edition of the Active House Award competition for university students

The Active House Award competition is designed for university students in the field of construction in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and it is announced in two categories – new buildings and renovations. Projects can be submitted by individuals or teams. The goal of the competition is to support the work of students on sustainable building projects and to facilitate a deeper understanding of the issues related to designing buildings to an active standard. The active standard is defined by the quality of the indoor environment, consideration for the environment, and the energy efficiency of the building. The main value of the building lies in how the mutual integration of these aspects supports architectural quality, human health, and a pleasant living environment. The partners of the competition are Czech Technical University in Prague, the Czech Council for Sustainable Buildings, and the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery.



“VELUX is actively engaged and regularly invests in the research and development of indoor environmental quality and sustainable buildings. In 2008, we launched the experimental project VELUX Model Home 2020, which represents the construction and testing of buildings based on the active house principle. Therefore, we decided to organize this competition for students in the Czech and Slovak Republics and thus contribute to the discussion about the future of sustainable building in our country,” said David Brož, CEO of VELUX.

Projects for residential and administrative buildings designed to an active standard, where VELUX products are part of the concept of lighting and ventilation of the house, can be submitted to the competition.

The submitted competition entries will be evaluated by an international expert jury composed of:
·    Mag. arch. Juri Troy (Juri Troy Architects, Austria)
·    MA Lone Feifer (Active House Alliance, Denmark)
·    doc. Ing. arch. Petr Suske, CSc. (SEA Architect, Czech Republic)
·   Ing.arch. Ľubomír Závodný visiting professor, FA STU, Bratislava (Závodný AA, SK)
·    Ing. arch. Klára Bukolská (representative of the organizer, VELUX Czech Republic)

·    Alternates:
·    Ing. Petr Vogel (Chairman of the Czech Council for Sustainable Buildings, Czech Republic)
·    Ing. arch. Dalibor Borák (Dobrý dům, Czech Republic)

Green Lighthouse

The expert jury will select three winners in the categories of new buildings and renovations. It will evaluate the quality of the indoor environment of the building regarding the usability of the layout, the amount of daylight in the interior, and ensuring ventilation; the impact on the environment from the perspective of architectural design, urbanism, materials used, and the use of renewable energy sources. The third criterion will be energy efficiency, i.e., zero energy consumption balance within the annual balance.

In each category, the following prizes will be awarded: the first place represents a reward of 35,000 CZK and a two-day visit to Copenhagen, including a tour of the first public CO2-neutral building in Denmark called Green Lighthouse (Zelený maják). The competitors in second and third places will receive 20,000 CZK and 10,000 CZK.

During the competition, there will also be two seminars focused on the design of active houses. The Active House Award – Idea seminar led by Mag. arch. Juri Troy will deal with the principles of designing active houses. The Active House Award – Technic seminar will introduce participants to the technical solutions of buildings and options for using renewable energy sources in active houses.

Registration for the Active House Award competition starts on October 20, 2011, and the deadline for submitting competition designs is May 15, 2012. The festive announcement of the winners will take place on June 15, 2012, in the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague at the vernissage of the exhibition of all entries. More information about the competition, including detailed conditions and the application, is available on the pages www.velux.cz or www.velux.sk .

!! Monday, November 21, 2011 Active House IDEA Seminar !!