“McKinley Park Environmental Center” by Jeffrey Li (B.Arch ’25) recipient of the 2024 Payette Prize in Building Science, completed in collaboration with Carleigh Cusick (B.Arch ’25) and Alexia Tan (B.Arch ’25).

“McKinley Park Environmental Center” by Jeffrey Li (B.Arch ’25) recipient of the 2024 Payette Prize in Building Science, completed in collaboration with Carleigh Cusick (B.Arch ’25) and Alexia Tan (B.Arch ’25).

The Payette Prize in Building Science recognizes the accomplishments of a student who has achieved exceptional performance by integrating the fundamentals of building science in their design work.

Carnegie Mellon Architecture is currently accepting applications for the 2025 award. Applications are due on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 11:59pm ET. Submit your application at the link below.

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Mission

Payette Associates, a prestigious, international architecture firm in Boston, Mass., established the Payette Prize in Building Science to recognize the accomplishments of a Carnegie Mellon Architecture student who has achieved exceptional performance by integrating the fundamentals of building science in the execution of their design work.

The intention of the award is twofold: 1) Encourage students to explore the intersection of architecture, sustainability and building science; 2) Demonstrate and cultivate the significant positive impact that can be made on design through an understanding and application of the fundamentals of building science.

The awarded student will receive a non-qualified scholarship.

Evaluation Criteria

To be considered for the Payette Prize in Building Science, applicants must submit a complete application that includes the following information:

  • A 400-word essay commenting on their approach to integrating principles of building science in their design work
  • A reduced size portfolio (<10 MB) of their most relevant project

Note: Applicants may include collaborative projects but must state which projects were done in collaboration with others. Applicants should only show work examples that they directly contributed to. For each collaborative project, the applicant must indicate the names of all authors and which aspect(s) of the project they worked on.

Spring 2025 Jury: Dana Cupkova (Chair), Vicky Achnani, Yiqun Pan, Louis Suarez

Spring 2025 Award Amount: $4,500 (one (1) available)

Eligibility & Schedule

The Payette Prize in Building Science is open to all students who have achieved exceptional performance by integrating the fundamentals of building science in their design work, including students in the Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch), Master of Architecture (M.Arch), Master of Science in Architecture–Engineering–Construction Management (MSAECM), Master of Science in Building Performance & Diagnostics (MSBPD) and Master of Science in Sustainable Design (MSSD) programs.

Carnegie Mellon Architecture is currently accepting applications for the 2025 award. Applications are due on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 11:59pm ET. 

Award Recipients

  • 2024: Jeffrey Li (B.Arch ’25)
  • 2023: Colin Walters (B.Arch ’24)
  • 2022: Madeline Cotton (B.Arch ’23)
  • 2021: Emily Edlich (B.Arch ’22) & Shanice Lam (B.Arch ’22) 
  • 2020: Ryu Kondrup (B.Arch ’21)
  • 2019: Cotey Anderegg (B.Arch ’20)
  • 2018: Timothy Khalifa (B.Arch ’19)