On October 1, 2016, the national stage of the annual international competition "Designing a Multi-Comfort Home-2017" started, organized by the Saint-Gobain company. This year, the official partners of the Russian stage are the Green Building Council, GRAPHISOFT, representing the ARCHICAD brand, and Bosch Thermotekhnika, representing the Buderus brand.
The student competition has been held by ISOVER (a division of Saint-Gobain) since 2005 in many countries around the world as part of a global strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Russia joined the project in 2011, and during this time more than a thousand students from different regions of the country took part in it, each of whom had the opportunity to prove themselves in the field of modern architecture.
Alexander Remizov, Chairman of the Council for Green Building, member of the Board of the Union of Architects of Russia, noted: “The Union of Architects of Russia and, in particular, the Council for Green Building, has supported the Design of a Multi-Comfort Home competition for the fifth time for several reasons. First, because Saint-Gobain provides a unique opportunity to overcome the lag that is now in Russian design practice in comparison with the European and American experience, where the issues of creating a sustainable, comfortable environment were put at the forefront in design for another 30 years back. Secondly, it is very important for students who have to face our realities to gain international experience, to understand the specifics and features of sustainable construction as it is understood all over the world. Thirdly, the task of this year's competition is very relevant for our country, because energy-efficient and comfortable housing is only 0.5% of what is being built in the world, and 99.5% are already existing buildings built in different years. And typical houses built in the 50s and 60s occupy a fairly large percentage both in our country and in Spain. All over the world, such problems are solved in different ways: somewhere such houses are being demolished, and someone is following the path of renovation. A balanced and balanced solution to this problem will be the answer to the questions of this Test Project."
Every year, the international organizing committee develops interesting tasks for the competition, requiring an unconventional approach, solving ambitious tasks and allowing students to develop creative thinking skills. The task of the 13th International Student Competition “Designing a Multi-Comfort Home” was developed by ISOVER in collaboration with the Department of Architecture of the Municipality of Madrid.
Participants need to create a project to restore the urban environment of the neighborhood along the borders of the Gran San Blas area in Madrid, an architecture that meets the requirements for environmental protection and harmoniously integrated into the urban space. At the same time, the prerequisites are compliance with the MAD-RE criteria and the criteria of the concept of the “Saint-Gobain Multi-Comfort House”, taking into account the climatic conditions and regional characteristics of the Spanish capital. In addition to construction, it is also necessary to take into account the social and economic aspects, and the proposed solution should give a new impetus to the development of the existing urban space.
Traditionally, the competition consists of two stages: national and international. Students from more than 35 universities from different parts of the country participate in Russia, and due to their geographic distance from each other, an additional selection of projects is carried out - an online semi-final. From October 1 to December 31, 2016, registration of participants is underway (students of 1-6 courses of architecture and construction universities can take part), and until February 15, 2017, competitive works will be accepted.
From February 15 to March 15, 2017, an online semi-final will take place, according to the results of which the top 10 teams will compete for the championship in the national final (to be held in April 2017 in Moscow). And only the best of the best will represent Russia among more than 20 countries of the world at the international final in Madrid. Participants in the national and international finals will receive monetary awards and special prizes from the partners of the competition, as well as invaluable experience from interacting with future and established world-class professionals.
“The competition is very popular in Russia, the number of students wishing to take part in it is growing every year, and many teachers include the competition in the curriculum. This is largely due to the fact that the project is not just a student competition, but involves the solution of serious problems facing the global architecture and construction industry. They are associated with such global challenges as the growth of the world's population, the need for increased energy efficiency in connection with the steady decline in the reserves of fossil fuels and the need to reduce the impact on the environment, and, of course, the increasing requirements for comfort in buildings. These challenges impose great responsibility on future architects, since they will have to decide what our cities will be tomorrow,”said Vitaly Bogachenko, Director of Corporate Relations at Saint-Gobain CIS.
“The use of energy efficient equipment in heating systems is a guarantee of the rational use of resources and adherence to the principles of environmentally friendly construction. We hope that our participation as a partner will allow the contestants to gain experience in applying innovative and effective solutions that are already available on the Russian market,”comments Mikhail Khomkin, Head of Product Management at Bosch Thermotekhnika.
The Test Project is interesting and at the same time rather difficult, therefore, Saint-Gobain specialists and partners of the competition from October 2016 to March 2017 will conduct a number of online trainings, as well as lectures at universities and colleges for Russian students in more than 30 Russian cities. To register and get more detailed information about the competition, please follow the link:
The national stage will take place in April 2017, and the international one will take place from May 29 to June 3, 2017.
ABOUT SAINT GOBUIN
Saint-Gobain is an international industrial group headquartered in Paris that develops, manufactures and markets high quality building materials and innovative solutions that improve the lives of everyone and society as a whole. Saint-Gobain products can be found in homes, offices, transport, infrastructure, etc. Saint-Gobain CIS has 8 operating factories in this region, as well as a research center in Yegoryevsk.
The world leader in creating a comfortable space. In 2015, Saint-Gobain's SALES amounted to 39.6 billion euros. The group has offices in 66 countries. The company employs over 170,000 employees. www.saint-gobain.ru
ABOUT ISOVER DIVISION
ISOVER has been the global quality standard for thermal insulation for over 75 years. Every third house in Europe is insulated with ISOVER materials. ISOVER is the only brand in Russia that has both fiberglass and stone fiber products in its portfolio. In 23 years the company has become a leading player in the Russian building materials market.
ISOVER products provide effective protection against cold and noise, increase the comfort and energy efficiency of the house, and reduce the cost of its operation. In 2013, ISOVER was awarded the Moscow Government's Save Energy! in the category "Technology of the Year". ISOVER materials are EcoMaterial Absolute. According to the EcoMaterial standard, products marked with the highest grade - Absolute, meet modern environmental and safety standards, are innovative and high-tech, and their use contributes to the modernization of the construction industry.
Since 2014, ISOVER is the first and only thermal insulation material in Russia to have an environmental declaration (EPD). www.isover.ru
ABOUT GREEN BUILDING ADVICE
The non-profit partnership Green Building Council (NP SPZS) was created on the initiative of the Union of Architects of Russia (CAP), which is a member of the International Union of Architects (UIA), which unites leading professional organizations of architects from 129 countries of the world.
NP SPZS was created primarily to study, develop and support the most promising domestic architectural and urban planning, engineering and technical and design sustainable innovations, to attract to Russia advanced foreign experience, technologies, construction techniques and materials that can qualitatively improve material and the spatial environment of life on a generally recognized platform for the sustainable development of architecture of the XXI century.
NP SPZS as an interdisciplinary organization unites all participants in architectural design and engineering and construction activities interested in the development of "green architecture" on the platform of creating Russian standards and norms for "green building", training programs for universities and advanced training of architects and designers, implementation in architecture and design practice of the entire spectrum of "green" technologies.
NP SPZS unites leading specialists, professional organizations and private companies, capable of their intellectual, organizational and financial resources, to start implementing in Russia a program of a qualitatively new architecture, a selfless concept of harmonious unity of an artificial habitat with the natural environment.
ABOUT GRAPHISOFT
GRAPHISOFT Company® revolutionized the BIM in 1984 with ArchiCAD® Is the industry's first BIM solution for architects in the CAD industry. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the architectural software market with innovative products such as BIMcloud ™, the world's first real-time collaborative BIM design solution, EcoDesigner ™, the world's first fully integrated energy modeling and energy efficiency assessments of buildings and BIMx® Is the leading mobile BIM visualization app. Since 2007, GRAPHISOFT has been part of the Nemetschek Group.
About the company "Bosch Thermotekhnika"
Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH ("Bosch Thermotechnika") is part of the Bosch Group, the world's leading technology and service provider. Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH is a global provider of energy-efficient and at the same time environmentally friendly solutions in the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. On the local market, Bosch Thermotekhnika LLC is represented by two brands, including Buderus.
Buderus - the leader in the European market for thermal equipment, offers its equipment - today it has 124 branches in more than customers advanced solutions in the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to create an ideal indoor climate. Innovative control systems make it easy to combine different types of renewable energy sources with each other or with pre-existing ones - gas and oil. Buderus is a global heating supplier in 50 countries of the world.
