From now until November 12, BASF will be hosting an online forum to generate new ideas and best practices in two areas: Net-Zero Energy School Design and Embodied Energy. Ideas are ranked and promoted by fellow participants. Two of the top five ideas with the highest scores will receive a 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad.

To join the online discussion:
  • Go to www2.basfconstruction.us/spigit and sign up

  • Pick a topic: School Design Challenge or Embodied Energy

  • Contribute to discussions

  • Start your own discussion thread

  • Vote on others’ comments
More than just an online message board, this discussion is a unique opportunity to harness the collective knowledge of the construction community and apply it to sustainability. The results will be shared with all participants.

The five participants with the most points in each topic will be entered into a drawing to win one of two Apple 16GB Wi-Fi iPads. You earn points by how the online community scores your ideas and by how often you participate. The more you participate, the higher your chances are to win.

Forum at a Glance

When you log in, you are invited to comment on high-performance school design, embodied energy, or both.

For the school design challenge, the forum asks you to imagine that you are now designing the Bolingbrook High School in Bolingbrock, Ill. This real-life school, completed in 2004, is designed to achieve 30 percent savings compared with ASHRAE 90.1-1999 minimums. It was the first LEED-certified high school in Illinois and the third in the U.S. What would you do now if you were designing it to achieve 80 percent savings?

If you select the embodied energy discussion, you are asked if embodied energy should be a central design consideration in day-to-day design practices. If so, what tools and information would help you make more informed decisions about embodied energy in your design/build projects.

Results will be tabulated and winners will be announced at the 3rd Annual BASF GreenBuild Luncheon Forum on Sustainable Construction Practices on November 17 at GreenBuild 2010 in Chicago.

For more information, please visit www2.basfconstruction.us/spigit or call (207) 929-4568.