OCSD

Sustainability & Resilience evaluates how well the model home’s design, systems, and components attain maximum reduction of negative environmental impact in all phases, including manufacturing, construction, use, and eventual decommissioning.

This contest evaluates the architecture and interior design of the model home and its ability to deliver both outstanding aesthetics and functionality. A jury of qualified professionals will assign an overall score for conceptual coherence, merit, integration, and implementation of the design. The jury will consider the team deliverables and perform an on-site evaluation of the model home.

This contest evaluates the engineering and construction workmanship of the team. A jury of qualified professionals will assign an overall score for the merit and implementation of the engineering design. The jury will consider the team deliverables and perform an on-site evaluation of the model home.

This contest evaluates each team’s demonstrated capacity to explain and promote their skills, ideas, and sustainable designs through compelling communications and marketing methods and materials. The goal is to create public understanding and acceptance of the model home and its constituent strategies, themes, systems, and components. Each team must emphasize the intended California target market for their completed model home, including household composition, income level, and geographic location.

The Innovation Contest considers how well teams demonstrate the capacity to go above and beyond existing boundaries to push the envelope of possibilities to address climate change and critical housing issues in California. Solving complex problems calls for creative thinking and stepping outside the box to envision and develop new solutions for designs, materials, and products for the homebuilding industry. The team that nails this contest shows that it has the vision, as well as the nuts and bolts understanding, for innovative thinking for a model home appropriate for the target market segment and geographic location the team has identified.

The organizers will use accredited software tools to calculate a projected Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index for each model home. The lower the projected HERS Index, the more energy efficient the home. The organizers will use the accredited software tools to develop an energy model of each model home. They will use data collected from construction documents, direct measurement activities, and performance verification activities to develop model inputs and calibrate model outputs. As the organizers learn more about the model homes to refine model inputs, the model will become progressively more accurate in predicting annual energy performance in the model home’s permanent location.

The organizers will use approved standards and tools to calculate a projected HERSH2O Water Efficiency Index for each competition model home. The lower the projected HERSH2O Index, the more water efficient the home. The organizers will use the approved standards and tools to develop a water efficiency model for each model home.

Today’s homes should be safe spaces for shelter, meals, learning, professional work, recreation, entertainment, and social gatherings.

In each of the sub-contests for Contest 8 and Contest 9, teams and the organizers will inspect and test different facets of each model home to verify that they function as intended and have been installed and configured per the construction documents. Systems, equipment, appliances, facilities, and electronics are examples of facets that require performance verification.

Demonstrate that all lighting and daylighting components, including controls, are installed and configured per the construction documents and function as intended.

Demonstrate that appliances such as the refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, cooktop, clothes washer, and clothes dryer are installed and configured per the construction documents and function as intended.

Demonstrate that all home office, security, and electronic entertainment systems and components are installed and configured per the construction documents and function as intended.

This contest evaluates how prepared and well-positioned each team is to deliver energy efficient, resilient, sustainable, and affordable solutions to and for the California housing market in the 5–10 years following the competition. The range of possible solutions includes but is not limited to the research, design, development, construction, installation, manufacturing and/or sale of residential buildings, landscapes, systems, technologies, and/or products. Positive outcomes resulting from recent, current, and future activities in the areas of education, outreach, community service, market research, activism, code development, and more are also recognized in this contest.