Jury Awards

The purpose of the Jury is to assess the strength and feasibility of each entry. The designs will be evaluated against sustainable and smart growth development principles including environmental impact, creativity and feasibility. The design will also be judged for their relationship to the specific context of each site and community.

Submittals will undergo preliminary review by the jury for technical feasibility. Each submission will receive one of three possible rankings — highly feasible, feasible or unfeasible. The ranking assigned to each project will be given a numeric value which will be factored into the final selection process. Final assessment will be for the strongest design ideas and creativity in the use of smart growth strategies for site development. The Jury will select the prizewinners and any identify any projects they deem worthy of an honorable mention.

The Jury is comprised of the following people:

Mark D. Abramson, President, REALTORS® Association of Pioneer Valley, CCIM, Green, CBR
Elizabeth Babrec
Kathleen Dorgan, AIA, LEED-AP
Andre Leroux;
Robert P. Mitchell, FAICP
Donna Salloom MA DEPH

Jurors may not be contacted by competition participants. Bios of each of the jurors are included in the Overview Competition Brief.

The Jury will meet and review each team’s submission. Teams submitting credible proposals will be highlighted. Each of the submissions will be reviewed for its overall design merit, response to site and integration of sustainable development and smart growth principals.

Jury members will base their judgment on their own expertise, the quality of the work submitted by competitors, the information contained in the competition document and any questions and answers that arise during the judging process. Please note that while the sponsors and the Jury members seek inspiring, visionary designs that will transform these properties into more remarkable and meaningful sites and examples of smart growth, the intention behind this process is to assess which team brings the best thinking to the project and not the wholesale selection of a design.

The Competition Coordinator will observe the process and the subsequent debate to ensure impartial enforcement of the regulations and terms of the brief, and if necessary, advise the sponsors of any concerns that should be addressed. Additional representatives selected by the sponsors may also attend the presentations as observers.

Selection criteria will include:

Originality of the proposal’s design vision
Responsiveness of the proposal to the Competition’s objectives
Responsiveness of the proposal to the site and its context
Quality and clarity of presentation materials
Affordable/attainable housing options

Peoples Choice Awards

All entries will be submitted for a “Peoples Choice” Award. The entry boards for each particular site will be exhibited in the community during the month of February 2010. Location of each exhibit will be announced on the competition website by January 2010.