Revitalizing Baltimore Neighborhoods
In partnership with the City of Baltimore, the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) and APA – The Engineered Wood Association (APA) are challenging designers to create a new urban row house design while considering the impact that building materials have on the environment.
Fossil fuel use and climate change are important environmental issues facing our nation today. The common denominator for these concerns is greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere when fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, are burned for energy or when organic materials decay. While most people are aware that North American forests help to address climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, less well known is the fact that wood products continue to store carbon, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere indefinitely. Substituting wood products for fossil fuel-intensive alternatives also results in significant amounts of “avoided” greenhouse gas emissions.
Design a Home with the Lowest Carbon Footprint and Win a Share of $10,000
FPL and APA are encouraging home designers to meet this environmental challenge by designing homes with wood for lower carbon footprints. The Carbon Challenge Baltimore Design Competition is also part of the USDA Forest Service’s vision for helping Baltimore rebuild and revitalize distressed neighborhoods in ways that utilize wood resources, increase green infrastructure, and spur local jobs and enterprise. $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the winning entries, determined by their global warming potential score (based on a scientific life-cycle assessment), cost-effectiveness, and adherence to the architectural design criteria for a new urban row house located in Baltimore, MD.
Update: The winners of the Baltimore Carbon Challenge were announced on March 28, 2013 at an awards ceremony at Humanim at the American Brewery in Baltimore, MD. View the winning designs.
To learn more about the Carbon Challenge, read the press release.
Baltimore News & Updates
Carbon Challenge Photos Posted
April 2013
Photos from the Providence Carbon Challenge Design competition have been posted in the following galleries:
Baltimore Design Competition Winners Announced
March 2013
During an awards ceremony March 28 at Humanim at the American Brewery in Baltimore, MD, several local architects were recognized as winners in the Carbon Challenge
Baltimore Design Competition. Competition participants developed an urban row house for the 1500 block
of Bethel St. in Baltimore’s Oliver neighborhood. With the help of
life-cycle assessment software from the Athena Sustainable Materials
Institute, designers determined the impact of the greenhouse gas
emissions from the products in their design. Along with each entry’s
carbon footprint, the judges considered its use of wood, its
cost-effectiveness, and its aesthetic. Cash prizes totaling $10,000 were awarded to the winners across multiple categories:
Grand Prize ($5,000): Phillip Jones -- Cho Benn Holback + Associates, Baltimore (pictured)- 2nd Place ($2,500): Alexander Dzurec -- autotroph, Huntington
- 3rd Place ($1,000): Drew Suljak, Kelly Krob, & David Lopez -- studioRED / hord | coplan | macht, Baltimore
- Best Use of Wood Products ($500): Chris Melander & Ross Smith -- RTKL Associates Inc., Baltimore
- Best Curb Appeal ($500): Randy M. Sovich & Jojo Duah -- RM Sovich Architecture, Baltimore
- Most Cost-Effective ($500): Jay Orr -- ARQ Architects, Baltimore
- Special Judges Award: Best Social Statement: Lisa M. Ferretto & Kallie Sternburgh -- hord | coplan | macht, Baltimore; Janice Romanosky -- Pando Alliance, Millersville; & Prescott Gaylord – Entellis Collaborative/Hamel Builders, Elkridge
Read more and view the winning designs.
Baltimore Design Competition Awards Ceremony to be Held on March 28
March 2013
Please join us for refreshments and recognition of the winners of the Baltimore Carbon Challenge. Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served. The competition winners will be announced and $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the top three finalists and the winners of three design categories: Best Use of Wood Products, Best Curb Appeal, and Most Cost-Effective Design. All of the award-winning designs will be on display.
The event will take place on March 28, 2013 from 4-6 p.m. at Humanim at the American Brewery (2nd Floor Events Room) at 1701 N. Gay Street, Baltimore, MD 21213. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required. To RSVP, contact Anne Michaels at 504-309-8965 or amichaels@arbmeetings.com.
Learn more about the Baltimore Awards Ceremony.
Carbon Challenge Registration Is Now Closed
February 2013
Registration for the Baltimore Carbon Challenge Design Competition is now closed. Entry submittals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on March 4, 2013. For more information, visit the Baltimore Carbon Challenge Design Requirements & Rules page.
Please visit this website again soon for additional announcements about upcoming Baltimore Carbon Challenge activities and events.
Mayor, USDA Under Secretary Help Launch Baltimore Carbon Challenge
January 2013
The U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory, APA-The Engineered Wood Association, and the City of Baltimore officially launched the Carbon Challenge Baltimore Design Competition with a January 15 press conference for the local media and neighborhood representatives and a kick-off event for designers and architects. Speakers at the events included Harris Sherman, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. (Pictured above: Sherman and Rawlings-Blake, along with APA Senior Engineered Wood Specialist Robert Clark, address the media at the Baltimore Carbon Challenge design site.)
The Carbon Challenge Design Competition challenges architects to transform a vacant lot in Baltimore’s Oliver neighborhood by designing a series of iconic row houses that consider the environmental footprint of the construction materials.
Baltimore Competition Kick-Off Celebration to be Held on January 15
January 2013
The Carbon Challenge Baltimore Design Competition will begin with a Kick-off Celebration on January 15, 2013 at Humanim at the American Brewery (1701 N. Gay Street, Baltimore). Tours to the competition site will depart from Humanim from 3-4 p.m., followed by the celebration back at Humanim from 4-6 p.m. Attend the Kick-off Celebration to:
- Find out how to enter the Carbon Challenge and see the actual site of the design competition (a vacant site on N. Bethel St. in Baltimore City) and the surrounding community.
- Learn about designing a more environmentally friendly home with a lower carbon footprint.
- Enjoy a festive, fun event for builders and designers featuring live music, great food, giveaways, beer and wine.
RSVP Today!
Attendance is free, but advance registration is required. To RSVP, contact Anne Michaels at 504-309-8965 or amichaels@arbmeetings.com.
Download a PDF invitation to the Kick-Off Celebration.
Baltimore Program Partners & Sponsors
December 2012
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Interested in becoming a sponsor? Contact Bob Clark.
About the FPL
The US Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) was established in 1910 to conduct research and technology transfer to improve the utilization of our forest resource.
About APA
Founded in 1933, APA - The Engineered Wood Association is a nonprofit trade association serving the wood structural panel and engineered wood products industries. Its primary functions include quality auditing and testing, applied research and market development.
Baltimore Carbon Challenge Leadership Team
Bob Clark, Senior Engineered Wood Specialist
APA-The Engineered Wood Association
Dundee, MI
Karen Martinson, Program Specialist
USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory
Madison, WI
J. Morgan Grove, Research Scientist and Team Leader
USDA Forest Service, Baltimore Field Station
Baltimore, MD
Elizabeth Larry, National Coordinator for Urban Research
USDA Forest Service
Washington, DC
Alice Kennedy
Baltimore Office of Sustainability
Baltimore, MD
Martin Yoklic, Research Scientist
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
About the Carbon Challenge
Through local design competitions and educational seminars, FPL and APA are challenging designers and builders to rethink their perceptions of construction materials and produce homes that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
About FPL
The US Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) was established in 1910 to conduct research and technology transfer to improve the utilization of our forest resource.
About APA
Founded in 1933, APA - The Engineered Wood Association provides quality auditing and testing, applied research, and market development for wood structural panel and engineered wood products.
Baltimore Program Partners & Sponsors
• US Forest Service, FPL
• APA
• Boise Cascade LLC
• LP Building Products
• Roseburg Forest Products
• AIA Baltimore
Interested in becoming a sponsor? Contact Bob Clark.
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Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Floor Systems
This APA fact sheet summarizes a life-cycle assessment of two alternative floor systems: wood and concrete slab-on-grade. Free download in PDF format.
Advanced Framing Construction Guide
This free publication from APA details techniques for more efficient, cost-effective framing practices.