The 2005 competition focuses on The Brewery Blocks, a mixed-use retail, residential, and office grouping of five buildings in Portland's Pearl District. The purpose of the competition is to recognize outstanding student design projects, to encourage undergraduate students to become involved in the profession, to apply their knowledge of practical design, and to promote teamwork.

Student design teams may compete in one of the three subsystem categories: HVAC system selection, refrigeration system design, and architectural design.

The refrigeration system design is a new category added as part of the centennial anniversary celebration of the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers, an ASHRAE predecessor society.

Teams must design an industrial refrigeration system for a perishable products distribution center located within the facility. The distribution center is a cold storage facility used to receive refrigerated products from various vendors before being resold and distributed to various end-users based on their requirements.

For HVAC system selection, teams must select the best district heating and cooling system serving the facility as well as the best system for each block.

The architecture design portion is a competition for the integration of a retirement and assisted living facility, which will allow the residents to live independently and gradually obtain increasing levels of assistance as their needs change.

The deadline for entries is May 9, 2005. For more information on the competition, click on the Student Zone link at www.ashrae.org.

Publication date: 08/16/2004