During its meeting Tuesday, May 2, the DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee presented awards to winning student groups chosen from this year’s 17th annual Sustainable Design Challenge.
Awards went to students from Wheaton Academy (West Chicago), Glenbard East High School (Lombard), and two teams from Hinsdale South High School (Darien),
“Over the past 17 years, we’ve had nearly 500 teams and thousands of students participate in the Challenge; I’m more impressed with the detail and sophistication of the projects each year,” said DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee chair person, Jim Zay.
“This year was particularly outstanding, and I am pleased to award prizes to four talented and deserving groups.”
Sponsored by DuPage County Stormwater Management, SCARCE coordinates the annual event, which encourages students to construct building and landscape models using environmental and water-friendly design practices.
Local professionals working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, served as judges, in evaluating the students’ designs, presentations, and innovation. Judges this year decided to add a second-place winner for one of the categories, for a total of four awards.
The winning groups were:
- Best Overall LEED Design: Claire Petrosius and Grace Koziol, Hinsdale South High School;
Second Place Overall LEED Design: Megan Lindberg and Katie Montana, Wheaton Academy;
Best Stormwater Design: Owen Atkinson, Hinsdale South High School;
Best Energy Design: Victor Hanson, Glenbard East High School.
Student groups participated in the annual Sustainable Design Challenge April 18 at DuPage County’s JTK Administration Building. Competitors presented models of their landscape and building designs and explained the various elements that saved energy, preserved the environment and contributed to sustainability goals.
Students featured energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines, and water conservation elements such as native plant landscaping, rain barrels, and other green infrastructure for stormwater management.
—DuPage County