University of Waterloo architecture and engineering students receive first prize TORONTO, April 18, 2013 /CNW/ - RBC and B+H proudly announced today the winners of the 2013 Evolve Sustainable Design Competition. University of Waterloo students Renee Hum-Hsiao, Elaina Poleto, Keegan Steeper, Joanne Yau and Thomas Yuan received first prize for their design of an environmentally sustainable bank branch of the future. The winning team received $5,000 and an opportunity to meet with some of Canada's top architecture professionals at B+H. In addition, the University of Waterloo student team of Alice Chen, Alan King Bowden, Andrea Ng, Alice Song and Mina Vedut received an honourable mention and a $2,500 prize. The competition challenged architecture and engineering students to work together in interdisciplinary teams to design a net-zero energy and water-wise bank branch of the future that incorporates innovative yet practical concepts for achieving extreme energy efficiency, includes renewable power and minimizes the branch's water. "The winning submissions used a great balance of technology and passive design - strategies that maximize the benefits of natural light, heat and ventilation - to meet the goals of the competition," said Douglas Birkenshaw, principal at B+H. "The dedication and quality of submissions by all of the students was inspiring." "We were very impressed with how fluent in environmental sustainability all the students were," added Lawrence Spicer, vice-president, Channel Strategy at RBC. "It is clear that sustainable design is very important to them and we're glad to support their visions for the future with a competition like Evolve."
