NEWH Green Voice Design Competition

It was created to support professionals and students who are balancing environmental responsibility, human health, and social equity with the realities of design, operations, and project delivery. The goal is clarity and progress around sustainability in hospitality.

Industry Partnership & Investment

NEWH Green Voice is made possible through industry partnership and reinvestment. Support from NEWH Friends of Green Voice sponsors helps fund programming and education, while also extending impact through student scholarships.

Green Voice Design Competition

That investment shows up through the annual NEWH Green Voice Design Competition. The competition invites students to apply sustainable products and practices within a real design challenge.

Competition Benefits

Real Design Challenges:

Students work on authentic hospitality projects with sustainability focus.

Presentation Experience:

Participants gain valuable experience presenting their work to industry.

Industry Visibility:

The industry gains visibility into emerging talent and ideas shaping hospitality's future.

NEWH Green Voice Design Competition / Adaptive Reuse Hotel Design Challenge

Competition Overview

The future of hospitality is increasingly shaped by adaptive reuse—the transformation of existing buildings into vibrant destinations that preserve resources, celebrate local identity, and reduce environmental impact. This competition challenges students to reimagine an existing commercial building as a sustainable hotel that enriches both the guest experience and the surrounding community.

Participants will develop an innovative hospitality design that demonstrates thoughtful adaptive reuse, responsible material selection, and a commitment to human health and environmental stewardship. Designs should integrate sustainable products, emerging technologies, and evidence-based design strategies while creating memorable guest experiences and healthy workplaces for hotel employees.

Students are encouraged to think beyond aesthetics by considering how architecture, interiors, materials, lighting, sound, texture, scent, and technology work together to create an immersive hospitality experience.

There is no prescribed project budget. Creativity, innovation, and sustainability are the priorities.

Eligibility & Participation

• Instructors may use the competition as a class project. Each student must submit an application.
• Open to declared Interior Design or Architecture students attending an accredited college/university
• Undergraduate – must be a Junior or Senior
• Graduate student enrolled in a master’s degree program
• The competition can be completed individually or as a team. Teams: The team can be composed of no more than (2) students who meet the criteria above. If Undergrad and Grad students work together, then the submission will compete for the Graduate level award. If awarded, students will split the $7,500 scholarship. Each student would receive paid travel and lodging for the awards event.
• Winner(s) must be available to attend the awards event at BDNY in November 2027 (travel and lodging are provided). If unable to attend for valid reasons, student may be asked to select (1) college representative (faculty or advisor) to attend on their behalf.
• Each student must submit an application.
• Due date for all submittals: January due date at 11:59 pm EST

Awards

The Green Voice Design Competition awards:

• $7,500 undergraduate scholarship
• $7,500 graduate scholarship

Winners receive travel and accommodations to attend the awards presentation at BDNY in New York, where their work is recognized in front of industry leaders.

Scholarship funds are awarded directly to the recipient’s academic institution to support continued education. To receive the scholarship, you must be a currently enrolled student with past, current or upcoming debt through your college for tuition or program approved books/supplies. Scholarship awards are generously donated by NEWH Friends of Green Voice sponsors.

Project Site

Select an existing commercial building anywhere in the world and transform it into a hotel property.

The selected building:

• May be located in an urban, suburban, or rural setting.
• May be occupied or vacant.
• Must be an existing commercial structure suitable for adaptive reuse.
• May be identified using Google Earth or other mapping resources.

The project should demonstrate how adaptive reuse preserves existing building resources while creating new economic, environmental, and social value for the community.

Design Challenge

Your proposal should communicate a compelling story that connects the building’s history, the surrounding community, and the future guest experience.

Through storyboards, plans, diagrams, annotations, rapid visualization, 2D documentation, and 3D renderings, demonstrate how your design:

• Celebrates the existing building while giving it a new purpose;
• Creates meaningful guest experiences;
• Supports employee wellness and operational efficiency;
• Minimizes environmental impact;
• Contributes positively to the surrounding neighborhood and culture.

Design solutions should thoughtfully consider sensory experiences—including light, sound, touch, materiality, and atmosphere—in addition to visual aesthetics.