Forest Biomaterials Collaborative

ATTENTION

The contest at this time has been postponed. Please contact Mark Rudnicki mrudnick@mtu.edu with any questions.

Sustainable Design Competition

The Michigan Tech Forest Biomaterials Initiative is pleased to announce a student contest sponsored by Plum Creek Timber Company to design a new (hypothetical) TALL building on the MTU campus to house a multidisciplinary center dedicated to Forest Biomaterials Innovation and Research.
 

“Timber is the new concrete”
This contest intends to promote use and knowledge of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) by rewarding innovative, exciting and viable design ideas. CLT’s or mass timber is creating a revolution with use in tall buildings around the world. Compared with steel or concrete CLT is cheaper, easier to assemble, and fire resistant1. It is also, by its nature, renewable and more sustainable.

 

Prizes

$500 1st Place

$250 2nd Place

$100 3rd Place

$50 for each of three runner’s up

Contest Criteria

Student teams are strongly encouraged to be interdisciplinary with no more than 5 students per team (undergrad or graduate). Project submission DEADLINE is DECEMBER 4th 2015.Teams should register before October 22th 2015. Winners will be announced at the spring MTU Forest Biomaterials meeting in January, 2016.

 

1.  Project Specifics and Details
  • A project site plan;
  • A project rendering (minimum of 100 feet). Aesthetic should reflect MTU/local culture and intended use of the building.

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    2. Business Case for Project
  • Project Team relevant expertise
  • A preliminary project budget;
  • A planned timeline of project development and construction;
  • A narrative describing how the proposed wood solution and project compares with other more commonly used structural solutions and buildings in the market;

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    3. Project Sustainability
  • A narrative detailing the project’s environmental impact or footprint, and the sustainability elements featured in the project;
  • A narrative that addresses the anticipated levels of impact of the proposed project from a sustainability and performance perspective including references to life cycle assessment, inventory, impact and costing, carbon sequestration, embodied energy and expected energy usage.

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    4. Rural Economic Ties
  • An economic narrative describing the potential of the project and/or wood materials used in the project to positively impact Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
  • A statement explaining how some of the wood material used in the project will be sourced from and manufactured in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

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    A panel of judges will use the below criteria to select winning proposals based on completeness, accuracy and detail. The judges are MTU faculty that represent expertise across campus:

    • Dr. Bill Bulleit (CEE)
    • Michael Drewyor, PE,PS (SoT)
    • Dr. Peter Laks (SFRES)
    • Dr. Yue Li (CEE)
    • Dr. Mark Rudnicki (SFRES)
    • Dr. David Shonnard (ECM)
    • Dr. Jon Sticklen (EF)

    CLT Resources

    Wood Works

    reThink Wood

    Solid Timber Construction – Process, Practice, Performance

    Solid Wood: Case Studies in Mass Timber Architecture

    US WoodWorks – Project, Design and Construction Suppor

    Seattle CLT Handbook

    Registration

    Teams should register by October 22th, 2015.

    registration must be done on a desktop.

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