The team’s design won because of its attention to the flow of energy, food, information and people within the imagined building, Martin said.
Details of the design included a community garden, the use of geothermal power augmented by biomass, and the use of the building itself as an exhibit on sustainable technology.
The competition, hosted by Carleton, the Canada Green Building Council and the Canada Science and Technology Museum, attracted 56 students from universities across the province of Ontario and Quebec.
Studentsfrom engineering, environmental studies, interior design, architecture and urban planning took part in the weekend-long event.
“It was nice to see what other people are doing and how it relates to what you’re doing,” Martin said.
Martin said she was particularly excited to meet peers from other fields “because you typically don’t get to do that.”
The National Canadian Green Building Council is a non-profit organization that started in 2004, according to Lori Gadzala, executive director of the Ottawa chapter.
“Their mission is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water usage in one million homes and 100,000 commercial and institutional buildings by 50 per cent by 2015 and foster sustainable design,” Gadzala said.
The council hosts a number of educational conferences on topics concerning the future of green design and green building methods.
“The reason we want to target students is that this is a growing industry,” Gadzala said. “The amount of green building projects in Ottawa has doubled in the last six months.”
“It’s really going to become a standard in architecture,” Martin said. “Everything will have to become sustainable.”
The winning design will be on display at the Canada Science and Technology Museum for the next six weeks.