Competition for Universities at WSB 14

The World Sustainable Building 2014 Conference has announced an International Universities Competition Switch On. Powering Transformation, which aims to include multidisciplinary work teams, composed by university students from fields related to architecture and urban planning, the environment and sustainability, coordinated by university professors.

A Symposium in Seoul

A symposium entitled Creative Sustainability in Architecture and Urbanism, was held in Seoul, South Korea, on 22 March. The event was organized by Professor Sungwoo Shin, Director of the Sustainable Building Research Center (SUSB) at Hanyang University. The symposium provided an opportunity for foreign and Korean speakers to outline various viewpoints on how best to achieve green growth, a very important issue in Korea. It also marked the culmination of 9 years of operation by the SUSB center.

ÖGNB joins iiSBE

The Österreichische Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (AKA the Austrian Green Building Council) has become a chapter of iiSBE. This step is welcomed by iiSBE President Luis Braganca as signaling that participation in iiSBE can be complementary to membership in the World Green Building Council (WGBC). The Spanish GBCe is also a member of both global networks.

For further information contact Peter Wallisch at office@oegnb.net, or Nils Larsson at larsson@iisbe.org.

A project to adapt integrated design concepts to Turkey

On 12 and 13 March a meeting was held in Ankara, Turkey to launch a project to adapt the principle of integrated design process (known as Integrated Building Design Approach, or IBDA in Turkey) for the Turkish building industry. The project is financed by UNDP Turkey and the Turkish Ministry of Energy and is expected to result in the production of two main reports by the end of the summer: an Adaptation report, on how to apply the principles for Turkish conditions, and a Guideline document, to support the work of design teams in applying the method.

iiSBE group in Florida holds a Net Zero symposium

A symposium on Net Zero buildings was held on 6 and 7 March in Gainesville Florida. The event was organized by Dr. Charles Kibert, who heads the Powell Center for Construction and Environment at the University of Florida. Professor Kibert was supported in the organization by Dr. Robert Ries, Director of the Rinker School of Construction Management at the university, and was given much organizational support by Lantz Holtzhower, who is completing his Ph.D.at the university.