About the Active House Award 2024

The Active House Awards are a key recognition given out by Active House International, a global association renowned for establishing standards aimed at creating healthier and more comfortable buildings.

The awards celebrate and promote best practices in the field of sustainable and people-centric buildings. They showcase exemplary application of the Active House principles in building projects. This involves balancing the elements of comfort, energy, and environment in building design to improve the quality of life of occupants while ensuring sustainability.

• The Active House RADAR Master Awards are open to realised projects that fully apply Active House Radar.

• Active House Principle Awards are open to both completed and fully developed designs that successfully reflect the Active House Principles.

Joining the Active House Awards not only validates the dedication and hard work of the awardees but also helps inspire other architects, builders, and designers to pursue sustainable and human-centric building projects.

The 2024 Awards ceremony will take place during the New European Bauhaus Festival in Brussels. The Festival brings together innovators, creators, scientists, people, and collectives from all walks of life to shape a future that is sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful.

All shortlisted projects will be publicly announced and featured on the Active House International Alliance website. Active House Award winners are granted a certificate of recognition for their remarkable work in the field. Furthermore, their winning projects will published and highlighted on the Active House International Alliance website, giving them global exposure, and setting a benchmark for future aspirants in this field.

How to participate

Active House is looking for exemplary and innovative building projects that take into consideration the Active House principles, based on fully developed plans or buildings completed in the last 12 months.

You are asked to submit your project online, reflecting your application of the following Active House Values within the design and building process:

1. Comfort: To what extent does the building prioritize the well-being of occupants?

2. Energy: To what extent have energy efficient solutions been implemented?

3. Environment: To what extent have sustainable resources been used, and the overall environmental impact been optimised?

4. Optional: Beauty, sustainability and inclusivity: To what extent does the building improve the quality of experience of its users, is in harmony with its environment and encourages easy access and interactions?

Projects applying for an Active House RADAR Master Award need to submit their full Active House RADAR calculations. Only completed constructions within the last 12 months can be submitted for the Active House Master Awards. These can be new constructions or renovations in all four construction purpose categories.

• Active House Radar methodology

• Active House Radar tool

Who Can Apply

Applicants are natural or legal persons that have made a significant contribution to the project and possess the requisite rights and permissions to submit the project for consideration. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Building professionals (architects, engineers, contractors, developers, etc.

• Home owners / building owners

• University-affiliated individuals/groups in architecture or civil engineering

Application Process

1. Submission of Applications: Participants submit their applications, detailing their projects and how they align with the award criteria. The deadline for submission is 15th February midnight (CET) 2024.

2. Eligibility Check: The evaluation group reviews all applications to assess their eligibility and completeness.

3. Quality Assessment: Selected experts evaluate the eligible applications, attributing points based on award criteria. The shortlisted projects will be announced on 25th March 2024.

4. Jury Assessment: The top-rated applications are passed on to a final jury of experts. This jury will further scrutinize these projects, taking into account innovative approaches, overall impact, and how well they embody the Active House principles and specifications.

5. Winner Selection: The jury makes the final decision on the award winners. The award ceremony and announcement of the winners will be on 18th April 2024.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted in full via the official form provided by the Active House International. It’s important to note that only fully completed applications submitted by 15th February 2024 midnight (CET) will be accepted and considered. Applications submitted after this date will not be considered for evaluation.

You can modify and update your application as needed while it’s in a draft state. This allows you to refine your application over time, ensuring it best represents your project.

It’s highly recommended not to wait until the final deadline to submit your application. This is to avoid potential last-minute issues such as page loading delays that can occur due to high traffic around the closing of submissions.

• Link to the official form

• PDF version