What is the
Sweet 16?
Wall Assembly - Sweet 16 is a single-stage international student wall assembly competition held annually by BS* and Beer of Kansas City and The School of Apprenticeship and Skilled Trades at George Brown College.
Participants are tasked with designing a wall assembly for their given climate zone while considering six criteria with a focus on applied building science.
The inaugural 2020 competition, created as a way to combat boredom during the global lockdown pitted 16 assemblies against each other from professional Builders and Architects. The second Sweet 16 in 2021 placed emphasis on the work of skilled-trade, architectural, and design students from across North America.
For 2022, we are back for an exciting 3rd running of the Wall Assembly - Sweet 16 (Student Edition) with a continued mission to champion the ideas of young tradespeople, designers and architects.
Wall assemblies are a pivotal aspect of envelope design in residential construction and the foundation of many students' initial application of building science. While the focus of the competition remains wall assemblies, critical attention must be paid to the connections and proposed assemblies of adjoining foundations, floors and roofs.
The competition is open to any high-school, college or university student in North America. There is no fee to enter.
We put your wall assembly in a cage
match with the best of the best.
1st Prize
- $1000 cash
- Full Passive House Tradesperson Course (150A + B + C) supplied by Passive House Canada ($2,310 value). Courses can be completed in-person or virtually.
- CPHT Certification Exam Fees ($500 value)
- In-person training and a pizza party supplied by Rockwool
- Complimentary one-year membership to Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor.
2nd Prize
- $500 cash
- Full Passive House Tradesperson Course (150A + B + C) supplied by Passive House Canada ($2,310 value). Courses can be completed in-person or virtually.
- Complimentary one-year membership to Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor.
3rd Prize
- $250 cash
- Partial Passive House Tradesperson Course (150A + B) supplied by Passive House Canada ($1,810 value). Courses can be completed in-person or virtually.
- Complimentary one-year membership to Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor.
4th Prize
- $250 cash
- Partial Passive House Tradesperson Course (150A + B) supplied by Passive House Canada ($1,810 value). Courses can be completed in-person or virtually.
- Complimentary one-year membership to Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor.
Building Materials
Select sponsors have also committed to donate building materials to the schools of the winning submissions. These include SIGA, Rockwool and Sashco.
Fine Homebuilding Memberships
Did not win a prize? Fine Homebuilding still supports you! The first 50 entrants will receive a complimentary one-year digital membership to Fine Homebuilding.
Prizes
We have over $5,000 in cash prizes, $10,000 in amazing Passive House Training and pallets of incredible building materials to award you!
Big thanks to all of our dedicated and
supportive sponsors for making this possible.
Submissions can be made by any current student as an individual, group, or class submission.
The entries must be submitted electronically as two separate PDF files not exceeding 10MB each. Each entry should contain, in order, the following documents (in English):
Document One: 8.5" x 11" - Project Summary
- 1-2 page(s) maximum (see template example)
- A maximum of 150-word text describing the project
- A maximum of 100-word text describing each response
to the six criteria
Document Two: 8.5" x 11" - Images and Drawings
- 5 pages maximum, with one image/drawing* per page
- Up to 4 views, drawings or images of your wall assembly (section, axonometric, perspective, photos of the mockup, etc.)
- A perspective of the wall assembly in its entirety (from the footing to the roof)
* Note: preference for portrait images so that they can be shared as Instagram Posts and for voting purposes by @bs_and_beer_kc
Submission
Guidelines
Scholarship Funds
- Through the incredible support of our sponsors we have collected an additional $3,750 in cash to award students who enter to the competition and also complete the 'Scholarship Submission' letter. Funds will be awarded to students who have communicated training and education goals to advance their design and building skills.
All entrants who complete the 'Scholarship Submission' letter will be eligible for education funding. You do not need to win a prize to be eligible. Funds will be transferred directly to you from the KC BS+Beer Society, as collected from our sponsors below.
Complimentary Training
- We also have a ticket to an amazing Passive House Tradesperson Course supplied by EMU Systems ($700 value). Students who submit to the competition and complete the 'Scholarship Submission' will also be eligible to receive this ticket for training!
Education
Awards
Didn't win the competition? Our sponsors still want to support you!
Evaluation
Criteria
Performance:
An evaluation of the control layers to assess thermal performance & potential air-tightness
Buildability:
Ease of workability or installation on the jobsite and availability of material spec’d
Durability:
The longevity of the assembly given water shedding and vapor control, with a focus on reparability
Embodied Carbon:
Based on an 8’ wide by 10’ tall mock wall assembly and totaling the embodied carbon of the complete assembly
Cost:
Including labor and material (with the inclusion of special equip. like cranes for pre-built assemblies)
LCA:
Does the assembly allow for future
remodeling, and when the assembly is finally deconstructed what is the level of reuse, recyclability & toxicity of materials
Note:
Note: Criteria will be analyzed according to the submission’s local climate zone and material/labour economy
Meh OK Good Great
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
April 6th, 2022 - Launch Webinar
- Launched with Fine Homebuilding on April 6th. Check out the video to hear Connor and Travis review the the competition and learn about building a winning submission from the competition organizers and sponsors. See the recorded launch video here!
May 14th, 2022 - Submission Deadline
- May 14th 2022 at 11:59pm CST (extended from April 29th)
- Email submissions to sweet16@wallassembly.com
June 7th, 2022 - Selected Entries Revealed:
- Selected entries will be revealed June 7th at 6:00pm EST on Fine Homebuilding. Register for the webinar now and join judges Mike Guertin, Emily Mottram, Christine Williamson and Steve Baczek for a discussion on what makes for a winning wall.
June 21st, 2022 - Live Final and Winners Announced:
- Live Final hosted by Fine Homebuilding on June 21st at 6:00pm EST.-
- The winning wall assembly will be selected live during the show by the judging team, and amazing prize packages provided from our sponsors.
Competition
Format & Dates
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
Media Sponsor
