Green Building Solutions Awards 2015: Climate solutions for COP21

In 2015, the Construction21 international network will run an exceptional edition of the Green Building Solutions Awards connected to the COP21. The 21st Conference of the Parties on climate, organized under the UN patronage, will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

Since 2013, the Green Building Solutions Awards, run by the 10 Construction21 platforms (*) provide all professionals a valuable showcase to promote their exemplary realizations in sustainable construction, including buildings, technical solutions and materials. In 2015, for its 3rd edition, the competition will begin on May 18 and end with a bang by December with an award ceremony in Paris, during the COP21.

Displaying "Climate solutions" on the COP21 and social networks

Competing realizations will be labelled as "Climate Solutions" and as such, they will be presented as practical solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings and solutions, as well as the projects stakeholders, will benefit from an exceptional media exposure for the 6 months of the competition, on the meeting spots of the COP21 and also on the web and social media. A video will be created to present all winning buildings and their solutions. Displayed on the ADEME** booth in the Grand Palais during the event "Solutions COP21", this video will also be widely shared on the web.

Focus on five types of climate solutions

This year, 5 categories of buildings and solutions are proposed:

• passive buildings
• smart buildings
• low energy refurbishment
• biobased materials
• renewable energies

A national and global competition

Following the example of the Construction21 concept combining local and global levels, the Green Building Solutions Awards will take place in two steps:

• May to September: a national competition in each country;
• October to December: an international competition selecting a winner from the national champions in each category.

Global coverage: 1 million visitors expected

Another 2015 novelty, the contest will spread to the rest of the world. Construction21 took the first step out of Europe with the opening of a Moroccan platform in 2014. In 2015, 20 additional countries are expected to join the international network for the time of the competition.

A special "Awards" partnership will be proposed to professional organizations involved in the promotion of sustainable construction, anywhere on the globe. They will be granted a special access to the platform in English, French and Spanish, to run a national competition between professionals in their country... and to send their champions for the second and international step of the Green Building Solutions. 

This way, the Green Building Solutions Awards should bring in 2015 candidates from 30 different countries. Their realizations will be seen by 1 million visitors over the year. Given the rapid progression of the Construction21 audience over the last two years and the intense mobilization for the COP21, the activity of the network is expected to be multiplied by 3 in 2015.

Sponsors and competitors: take that opportunity!

An exceptional event calls for exceptional means. The Green Building Solutions Awards are open to private partners who will benefit of media exposure over the year, especially on social media used by the professionals.

This is also an opportunity for all professionals committed to sustainability to enter the competition. In order to do that, they only need to publish online, for free, a study case on Construction21. This study case will describe an exemplary building and 1 to 10 innovative solutions contributing to the climate performance of that building.

For more information, contact us !

* The Construction21 international network is composed of 10 portals in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg and Morocco, as well as an international platform in English, directly connected to BUILD UP, the European Commission portal dedicated to energy efficiency in buildings.

** French National Agency for Environment and Energy