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Sustainable development
| Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction |
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Living with Lakes Center: main building, watershed restoration building and site on Ramsey Lake, northeastern Ontario, Canada. Winner of the Holcim Awards Bronze 2008 North America The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction was created to raise international awareness of the important role that architecture, engineering and construction have in helping to achieve a more sustainable future – and to prompt the radically different responses needed to make such a future achievable. With this in mind, the Holcim Foundation’s primary objective has been to select and support a range of initiatives that extend beyond technical solutions to creating sustainable construction outcomes which embrace architectural excellence and enhanced quality of life. The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction works closely with some of the world’s leading technical universities who have committed themselves to act as partners of the Holcim Foundation. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) operates as the global Technical Competence Center (TCC) of the Holcim Foundation. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tongji University (TJU), China; Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA), Mexico; and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa, are partner universities. The Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil, is an associated university of the Holcim Foundation. Advisory Board The Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation ensures that the activities of the Holcim Foundation are conducted in accordance with current interpretations of sustainable construction. It shapes the Holcim Foundation’s activities by identifying the architectural, scientific, cultural, and policy concerns that should be integrated into its initiatives. The work of the Holcim Foundation is independent from the economic interests of the Holcim Group. Holcim Foundation http://www.holcimfoundation.org |
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Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction 
Presentation of the Global Holcim Awards “Innovation” prize 2009 (l-r): Rolf Soiron, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Holcim Ltd; Enrique Norten, Principal and founder, TEN Arquitectos and member of the global jury; John Petersen and Liz Ogbu, “Innovation” prize winners; Sarah Graham, Principal partner, agps architecture and member of the Holcim Awards jury for region North America; and Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, Columbia University, New York and member of the global jury. Update June 1, 2009: June 1, 2009 - The self-contained day labour station offers a solution for day laborers and the surrounding communities. Sociologist Saskia Sassen and architect Enrique Norten presented the USD 50,000 "Innovation" prize at the new California Academy of Sciences building – itself a winning project from the 2005 Holcim Awards competition. more details on the project images of prize hand-over The Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction is a competition designed to focus the minds of architects, planners, engineers and project owners on creating innovative construction solutions that truly champion sustainability. The Holcim Awards recognize any contribution to sustainable construction – irrespective of scale – in architecture, landscape and urban design, civil and mechanical engineering and related disciplines. The Holcim Awards seeks projects and concepts which demonstrate an ability to stretch conventional notions about sustainable building and also balance environmental, social and economic performance. The competition celebrates innovative, future-oriented and tangible sustainable construction projects from around the globe and provides prize money of USD 2 million per three-year competition cycle. Global Holcim Awards 2009 The second cycle of the Holcim Awards competition has reached its pinnacle: the top sustainable construction projects out of thousands of submissions from all continents have been selected. The four winning entries are a river remediation scheme in Morocco, a greenfield university campus in Vietnam, a rural planning strategy in China, and a shelter for day laborers in the USA. http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T927/GlobalbrHolcimAwards2009.htm Next Awards competition The third Holcim Awards competition cycle will open for entries July 1, 2010. Holcim Awards 2008 regional results The winners of the regional phase of the second Holcim Awards competition were announced and USD 1.35 million in prize money handed over in 2008. Ceremonies were held in Madrid, Montreal, Mexico City, Marrakech and New Delhi. The results from each region: Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa Middle East and Asia Pacific are listed on: Regional Holcim Awards winners http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T684/Regional_Holcim_Awards_2008.htm |
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Holcim Forum The Holcim Forum is a series of symposiums on the topic of sustainable construction conducted by the Foundation. The event is an academic platform for architects and construction professionals to exchange information on creating a sustainable built environment and thus advancing sustainable development. The Holcim Forum supports sustainable construction in the scientific field, among experts in the construction sector, business and society. The Holcim Foundation, in cooperation with its Technical Competence Center and partner universities, serves as an international platform for architects, construction professionals and specialists of all generations to promote interdisciplinary dialogue, bring forward new ideas, and examine potential solutions. Urban_Trans_Formation, Shanghai, 2007 More than 250 international experts from 41 countries met in China at the Holcim Forum in 2007. The theme of the Forum was “Urban Trans Formation”. At the three-day conference, workshops examined position papers from specialists on the topics of normative urbanism (“between convention and differentiation”), informal urbanism (“between sanctioned and shadow orders”), green urbanism (“between ecology and economy”), touristic urbanism (“between local and global”), and temporary urbanism (“between the permanent and transitory”). Basic Needs, Zurich, 2004 The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) hosted the first Holcim Forum in 2004. Under the theme of “Basic Needs”, the symposium focused upon essential infrastructure for civilization – housing, water, education, health care, and access to goods and services. Publications from each Holcim Forum capture insights and recommendations from each symposium and also the energy and the spirit of the symposiums and participants. Each publication is available for download as a PDF from the Holcim Foundation website.  More information about the Holcim Forum Register for updates on the Holcim Foundation
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Holcim Grants for Sustainable Construction Seed funding for building initiatives and grants for research projects are Foundation initiatives designed to accelerate progress and promote sustainable construction. The Holcim Foundation provides USD 1 million per three-year cycle to support the implementation of building projects and research in sustainable construction. The Holcim Foundation acts as an enabler for both building initiatives and PhD research projects so that, whatever their origin, exciting and important new ideas can be more widely implemented and tested by a broader audience of specialists. Project seed funding Projects nominated for seed funding are evaluated according to the “target issues” for sustainable construction, and must be endorsed by a local Holcim Group company. The first project seed funding grant was provided for building the headquarters of Development Alternatives in New Delhi. PhD research grants Research activities in the field of sustainable construction are promoted through co-funding PhD research projects and/or teams from technical universities. The first research funding hand-over of USD 200,000 for projects in Brazil, China, Mexico and Switzerland took place at the Holcim Forum 2007 in Shanghai, China. Holcim Grants www.holcimgrants.org |
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| Global Holcim Awards 2009 | ||
Top sustainable construction projects honored with Global Holcim Awards
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