The Ice Box Challenge Glasgow 2021
Ice Box Challenge Glasgow: Official launch at St Enoch Square
Today, two ice boxes land at St Enoch Square, Glasgow, to demonstrate the significance of an efficiency first approach to building in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, this November.
The Ice Box Challenge Glasgow is a public installation and contest taking place from July 23 until August 6. One ice box has been constructed to the Scottish Building Standard, while the other meets the Passive House Standard, a highly energy efficient building performance standard, which the Glasgow City Council and local housing associations have increasingly implemented in new build and retrofit projects. As the name suggests, Passive House buildings make efficient use of passive heating and cooling sources. To demonstrate this during the Ice Box Challenge, each box is filled with an equal amount of ice at the beginning of the experiment. After a fortnight, at the closing ceremony on August 6, the amount of ice left in each box will be measured. The level of ice remaining will demonstrate how well each ice box passively kept out the heat.
The Organisers
The project is a joint effort from the International Passive House Association, Glasgow City Council, Passive House Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, Passivhaus Trust and Construction Scotland Innovation Centre and enjoys the patronage of the UNECE and Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. The project began with a student design competition, which received entries from all over Scotland and was ultimately won by a team from Robert Gordon University. Their design was inspired by the Scottish Highlands and incorporated design features and materials that would minimise the structures’ embodied carbon as well. The team has worked with Construction Scotland Innovation Centre to fabricate the boxes for display.
Opening Ceremony
The Ice Box Challenge opening ceremony will take place today, July 23, 2021 in St Enoch Square, Glasgow from 12:30 to 2pm. Speakers include Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Convener of the Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm Committee at Glasgow City Council; Ann-Marie Fallon from Architype and Barbara Lantschner of John Gilbert Architects, two of the UK’s leading Passive House architectural firms and Dr Julio Bros-Williamson and the winning student team to talk about taking their design from concept to reality. The ceremony will provide an opportunity to learn more about the Ice Box Challenge, tackling the UK Climate Emergency through Passive House implementation and also mark the opening of the ‘Guess the remaining ice level’ contest; where entrants can win a weekend getaway for two at Malvern Passive House B&B in the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty.
Efficiency: The First Renewable Energy #EfficiencyFirst Campaign
The Ice Box Challenge is a part of the International Passive House Association’s 2021 awareness raising campaign “Efficiency: The First Renewable Energy #EfficiencyFirst”. The United Nation’s IPCC highlights the substantial action needed to limit global warming. Currently, 35% of global energy consumption comes from the building sector alone. The operational stage is the largest contributor to carbon emissions, with most of this stemming from heating and cooling demand. Thus, the campaign asks people to think #EfficiencyFirst when tackling a new build or retrofitting project. It highlights existing solutions and provides local information on how to implement them.
Sponsors
The Ice Box Challenge was made possible thanks to the generous donations from sponsors including: Construction Scotland Innovation Centre; John Gilbert Architects; Ecological Building Systems, OPEN Technologies, Glasgow Institute of Architects, Shettleston Housing Association, West of Scotland Housing Association, Southside Housing Association, Sanctuary Housing, Stewart & Shields Ltd, CCG (Scotland) Ltd, A.C. Whyte & Co. Ltd, Scotia Windows And Doors, Eskimo Ice Limited, Galt Transport, John White and Son and Green Building Store.