Knauf Insulation is on a mission to find the biggest, boldest ideas to inspire an exciting new generation of sustainable buildings in its Race to Zero competition.
Knauf Insulation enjoys an international reputation for innovative sustainable solutions from our insulation systems for the most iconic buildings in the world to pioneering work with social housing associations.
Yosr Melki, our Regional Marketing & Communications Director, says: “The renovation of buildings is key to our company mission, our commitment to UN Sustainability Goals and our For A Better World sustainability strategy — that is why we have launched our ‘Race To Zero’ competition.
“Buildings are responsible for 36% of Europe’s CO2 emissions and more than 34 million Europeans cannot afford to pay their energy bills. We want to find young innovators who can inspire the change needed to drive renovation forward to tackle climate change, improve lives and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.”
How do contestants win?
- The winning team will have created a new way to successfully scale up and industralise the renovation of social housing.
- The winning concept will show how to guarantee quality, performance and deliver innovative, reliable and quantifiable results in terms of reducing emissions.
- The winning concept will improve the thermal and acoustic comfort of social housing and ensure fire resilience and good air quality.
What challenges do you need to overcome?
- The building industry is facing a labour shortage and has been slow to maximise the potential of digital resources.
- Construction has faced trust issues — often what has been promised in terms of renovation results has not always been delivered.
- The industry needs to become more sustainable in terms of waste management, the circular economy and using products with minimum environmental impact.
What is the prize?
- In addition to the prestige of winning this international competition, there is cash prize of €15,000.
- Winners will also be offered the opportunity of employment at Knauf Insulation.
- The winners will be given hands-on experience of current Knauf projects and work with Knauf Insulation teams while being mentored by world-beating experts within a customized program based on their skills and interests.
- The winners will attend Knauf Insulation’s Annual Conference in 2022 to meet the company’s leading thinkers and exchange ideas and insight.
Who can enter?
- Our Race to Zero competition is open to teams of a maximum of two people — final year students as well as 2020 graduates — with backgrounds in Architecture, Construction Engineering, Design or any related discipline.
- Entrants must be from university or college faculties in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Netherlands or Portugal and located in the same country for the duration of the competition.
- We actively encourage diversity of team members in line with our commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion.
When is the deadline?
The deadline for subscriptions is May 28th 2021.
‘Race to Zero’ competition is a Knauf Insulation commitment
For A Better World
Our Chief Operating Officer, David Ducarme, said: “The ‘Race to Zero’ competition offers a unique opportunity to cut emissions from buildings and make a concrete contribution to the world’s biggest challenge — tackling climate change.”
Siân Hughes, Group Human Resources Director, added: “We have never had greater need or imperative to innovate. And we have never had a greater need to collaborate. We are looking forward to collaborating with the winners of this competition to solve some of our society’s most pressing challenges.”
Our Regional Managing Director, Mark Leverton, added: “The ‘Race to Zero’ competition is a fantastic chance to find new solutions to the old challenges of social housing. The innovative materials, digital technology and sustainable solutions are all out there, we now need to find the agile minds who can bring this all together.”
Learn more about Race to Zero contest
