The Open Architecture Challenge is an international design competition that's hosted every two years.  This year, Architecture for Humanity and Orient Global hosted the competition to bring the architecture, design, and engineering community together with students and teachers to envision the classroom of the future.  After receiving over a thousand designs, each submission was rated on feasibility, sustainability, innovation in design, and overall design quality.  Now, after four rounds, there are eight finalists and one of these will win in September.  Check these designs out and tell us which is your favorite:

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Last November, Project FROG demonstrated their FROG Zero classroom at Greenbuild 2008, and it was quite impressive.  Now, the company has a couple projects in the works, and they just broke ground on a new Center for Science and Global Citizenship at the Watkinson School in Hartford, Connecticut.  The 4,000 square-foot science center will generate more energy within its footprint than is required to operate the systems.  To do so, it will rely on some of the following active and passive strategies:

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Some of the students of tomorrow will have the opportunity to learn in incredible, well-designed buildings.  Take for instance this $28 million building designed by Ross Barney Architects with the assistance of The Sheward Partnership.  Commodore John Barry Elementary School was designed to LEED Silver certification but ended up obtaining LEED Gold (at no extra cost to the School District of Philadelphia).  The District has obtained certification for two other schools and committed to build all future schools to LEED Silver certification.  Four such schools are on the boards right now. 

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Check out this bright, contemporary renovation of an old, 1960s nursing building.  The renovation was led by the design team of Lord, Aeck & Sargent and Gould Evans Associates; they’re anticipating LEED Silver certification and did it all with a $6 M budget.  Now complete, it will be used for Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability and a newly formed School of Sustainability.  In terms of performance, the Institute is anticipated to save 18.7% on energy and 50.3% on water use compared with its baseline usage — plus, it's been outfitted with six, hard-to-miss, state-of-the-art AeroVironment parapet turbines. 

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The classroom of the future was on display throughout Greenbuild 2008 and it’s safe to say that attendees were impressed.  Project FROG built the classroom using their FROG Zero system of modular construction — a zero-energy building system.  What’s interesting, though, is that the contractor, Fisher Development, assembled and finished it in six days.  And it’s beautiful inside and out.  The company has received venture funding and can sell their classrooms for 25% cheaper than the competition.  Soon enough, we’ll all be able to watch the proliferation of healthy, architecturally-designed learning environments.

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