Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page lists the most frequent questions regarding the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction and its initiatives. Enter a keyword in the box below (e.g. "sustainable construction" or "green") to view only FAQs containing your keyword.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sustainable construction
Sustainable construction aims to meet present day needs for housing, working environments, and infrastructure without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs in times to come. It incorporates elements of economic efficiency, environmental performance, and social responsibility. It has the greatest impact when architectural quality, technical innovation, and transferability are included.
Awards competition
The 6th cycle of the international competition closed for entries on February 25, 2020.
The next competition is scheduled to open in mid-2022.
The LafargeHolcim Awards seeks leading projects of professionals as well as bold ideas from the Next Generation that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence. The 6th cycle of the international competition is open for entries until February 25, 2020. The Awards offer a total of USD 2 million in prize money and foreground projects and concepts from architecture, engineering, urban planning, materials and construction technology, and related fields.
LafargeHolcim Awards main category
- For exemplary sustainable construction projects at an advanced stage of design from architecture, engineering, urban planning, materials and construction technology, and related fields.
- No age restriction for project authors.
- Project must not have started construction/fabrication before January 1, 2019.
LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation category
- For visionary design concepts and bold ideas including design studio and research work.
- Authors can be no older than 30 years of age (date of birth later than June 4, 1988).
- Students and young professionals are welcome to enter the Awards main category with projects that have reached an advanced stage of design.
The “Projects” section of the website to search for projects according to region, country or keyword – or simply browse the latest updates.
In addition, downloadable project posters (PDF), jury appraisals and high-resolution images of all winning projects are available in the Awards section of this website, covering the winners of the first (2005/06), second (2008/09), third (2011/12), fourth (2014/15) and fifth (2017/18) cycles of the competition. Where available, additional updates are featured on the “timeline” of each project.
The LafargeHolcim Foundation publishes additional information in media releases and books about the winning projects and authors.
Forum symposiums
The LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction is a tri-annual series of conferences, conducted in collaboration with the Foundation’s associated universities. The multi-day event is an academic platform for architects, engineers, urban planners, materials scientists, and construction specialists of all generations and geographic locations.
The 6th LafargeHolcim Forum was held April 4-6 2019 at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. “Re-materializing Construction” was the topic of the three-day symposium with keynote addresses, workshops and excursions of the Forum focused on strategies to “re-materialize” construction by reducing consumption throughout the material cycle from extraction to processing, transport, installation, maintenance, and removal – contributing to a leaner industry.
Detailed information about each previous Forum is available at:
5th LafargeHolcim Forum “Infrastructure Space”, Detroit, USA (April 7-9, 2016)
2nd Holcim Forum “Urban_Trans_Formation”, Tongji University, Shanghai, China (April 18-21, 2007)
1st Holcim Forum “Basic Needs”, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (September 15-18, 2004)
Publications (conference proceedings and pictorial summaries) are available at:
The next (7th) International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction will held in April 2022. The theme and location will be announced in due course. To stay updated about the Forum and other initiatives, please consider subscribing to the Foundation’s email newsletter to stay updated.
Business, employment and funding enquiries
The LafargeHolcim Foundation is supported by, but independent of the commercial interests of LafargeHolcim, the leading company in the building materials industry. Business propositions should be directed to either the corporate headquarters or to the relevant country in which LafargeHolcim operates.
A small staff of professionals manages the administration and communications aspects of the LafargeHolcim Foundation's activities, based in Zurich, Switzerland.
There are currently no positions vacant at the LafargeHolcim Foundation. Any open positions will be advertised on this website and in relevant media.
The LafargeHolcim Foundation’s regulations state that it may only spend funds within the scope of its own initiatives to support the promotion of sustainable construction on a non-commercial basis.
As a consequence, there are no funds available for academic fellowships, project or research grants, or to sponsor conferences, seminars, etc., which are beyond the scope of the Foundation’s initiatives.
Updates from the LafargeHolcim Foundation
The LafargeHolcim Foundation sends out announcements and media releases via email to all subscribers of its email newsletter. Some announcements are made in multiple languages, so please indicate your preferred language (English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese or Spanish) when subscribing using the form (link below).
Contacting the LafargeHolcim Foundation
The Academic Committee (AC), based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich/EPFL), provides academic and technical support by developing, supporting, and implementing the LafargeHolcim Foundation’s initiatives on the scientific and technical level. The LafargeHolcim Foundation is also supported by its associated universities.
Read more about associated universities of the LafargeHolcim Foundation
Inquiries and questions of technical nature should be addressed to the Academic Committee (AC) of the LafargeHolcim Foundation at ac@lafargeholcim-foundation.org:
Read more about the Academic Committee (AC) of the LafargeHolcim Foundation
Please contact the LafargeHolcim Foundation via info@lafargeholcim-foundation.org or via the online contact form, providing as much detail about your enquiry as possible. We are happy to accept and reply to questions in English at:
/c(235-1.33333333333333-100-0-0)/2011internalroundtable03.jpg "Sustainable construction: Robots instead of people?")
/c(84-0.75-100-0-2.64705882352941)/foundations24.png "Foundations 24 – 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards")
/c(84-0.75-97.9351032448378-48.125-1.17994100294985)/materialsbook-cover2.jpg "Forum 2019 – The Materials Book: Re-materializing Construction – Cairo (Ruby Press)")
/c(84-0.75-97.0521541950113-28.5416666666667-1.02040816326531)/forum2019-re-materializingconstruction-cover.png "Foundations 23 – Re-materializing Construction")
