Joseph Yau (M.Arch ’11), Mark Alocilja, and Daniels Faculty Instructor and alumnus Drew Adams (M.Arch’11) are among the winners of the 2013 Architecture at Zero Competition.  

Their entry, "NZ+ Beyond Net Zero Energy," (pictured above) pushed the idea of net zero beyond energy efficiency toward a more holistic approach, which includes water efficiency, waste reduction, access to food and other factors.

Architecture at Zero 2013 is a zero net energy design competition that was open to students and professionals worldwide. Participants were challenged to create a design for a new, roughly 150-unit mixed-use residential apartment building located in the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco, California. The building was required to be a mix of affordable and market rate housing units, and to include a full grocery store on the ground level. The whole building was required to be as close to zero net energy as possible.

For their project, Adams, Yau, and Alocilia's forecast an 85% reduction in residential energy use, a 50% reduction in ground floor commercial energy use, and a 90% reduction in potable water consumption. Their design also achieved a  90% reduction in C02 emissions by using a hybrid timber structure, rather than conventional construction materials on top of other performance achievements.

The project proposed a modified 'skip-stop' corridor system that increases the building's affordability, reduces energy, and leads to a greater density of people entering from the same level, which will help foster a stronger sense of community. The design also significantly extends the public realm by creating a shared second-level courtyard. Protruding bay windows and balconies above the courtyard extend living spaces outward, allowing them to participate in the life of this common space while creating an expressive woven and 'thickened' facade.

A full description of the project and its design and performance strategies can be found here.