Structural Quality Assurance: 10,000 Pillars to Be Completed Using Durable and Earthquake Resistant SRF!

Event Commemorated with 1 Million Yen Prize Offered for Ideas for a 'Safe and Comfortable City'

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Structural Quality Assurance, Inc. will call for innovative visions and solicit entries for our contest entitled, "Creating a safe and comfortable city" to commemorate the completion of the 10,000 concrete pillars wrapped with SRF Winners of "General category" and "Professionals category" will each receive 1,000,000 yen as a grand prize! The winner of "Students high school age and younger category" will receive 100,000 yen gift certificate as a top prize!

“Students high school age and younger category”

Modern cities that are made of concrete are in danger of collapsing due to deterioration by aging and ground motion caused by earthquakes. Moreover an enormous amount of energy is required to keep them comfortable.
Wrapping reinforced concrete (RC) with flexible and tough fabric makes it much safer and more durable, like a new material called recovered reinforced concrete (R2C). And we have invented a new technology to do just that (it is called SRF). Almost 10,000 columns have been wrapped with the SRF method. In the Great East Japan Earthquake, on March 11, 2011, the buildings that had been retrofitted with SRF suffered hardly any damage, and shook less. Furthermore, SRF has been recognized to have a good insulation effect that remarkably reduces the electric power consumed in an office building in Tokyo.
Making modern cities safe and comfortable is a global problem. However, the technology of the past century requires more resources and energy than we can afford. We need new ideas, material, and technology. Please enter our competition to help create safe and comfortable cities.

Application Categories

(1) [Students high school age and younger category]
Amazing Future Prize (one prize)- 100,000 yen gift certificate.

(2)[General category]
Grand Prize (one prize)- 1,000,000 yen.

(3)[Professionals category]
Grand Prize (One prize)- 1,000,000 yen.

*There are other prizes.

Judges
Motohiko Hakuno, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo
Toshimi Kabeyasawa, professor at the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo
Norihiko Dan, and other architects

Application period: Opens Thursday December 20, 2012; Ends Friday February 22, 2013.

Selection results: Will be announced on Saturday March 23, 2013 on our HP (www.sqa.co.jp).

*For further information: http://www.srfcon.com