Sustainability Challenge – FAQs

The Sustainability Challenge powered by EDGE and Vattenfall, in cooperation with Urban Impact, is open to innovative minds and companies worldwide. The challenge is to find a solution that combines technology and sustainability to enhance EDGE Suedkreuz Berlin – the new Vattenfall headquarters in Berlin. The aim is to set new standards through the use of sustainable and impactful technologies in the building and by this boost its attractiveness and innovative profile for users as well as for visitors.

To participate in the Sustainability Challenge, you should have experience and positive references in sustainability projects.

Whether you are a start-up, an artist or designer – your solution must have a visible or visualised impact with a clear message for inhabitants and visitors in order to entice their ecological behaviour and awareness.

The following criteria are not essential but will increase the final scoring of the applications:

• High level of aesthetics and design
• Flexibility of implementation and integration
• Interactive and user engaging solution
• No (or low) maintenance costs
• Highly innovative solution (product or service)
• Measurable climate impact (e.g., CO2 emissions reduction, energy savings, water savings, waste reduction etc.)
• Measurable improvement of long-term economics of the building (e.g. through above mentioned savings)
• Technological and commercial scalability of the solution

Applications for the Sustainability Challenge must be submitted via the application form on the Sustainability Challenge website by 2 May 2021 at 23:59 at the latest. Applications submitted by other means and/or after the deadline will not be considered. For all other important dates and deadlines concerning the challenge take a look at the timeline.

The application documents must be submitted via the application form on the Sustainability Challenge website. Please fill in all boxes of the application form. Only complete applications received before the deadline will be considered for the Sustainability Challenge.

The texts should be concise and must not be longer than 500 words per question. It is possible to attach:

• a pitch deck in PDF-format (in English language)
• a high-resolution company logo (300 dpi) as a .jpg or .png file for publication on the Sustainability Challenge website and in the documents

After the application is submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation by email.

The competition language is English. This applies to the application documents as well as to presentations.

An "Evaluation Team" subjects the submitted solutions to a fair and accurate evaluation process, and creates a ranking. The applicants with the highest scores ("finalists") will be invited to the Pitch Day. According to the current plan, this will take place online on 02.06.2021. On Pitch Day, the finalists will present their solutions to the jury in a live pitch on a virtual stage.

The Pitch Day winner(s) will be announced on the Sustainability Challenge website and social media channels within five working days. They will move on to the co-creation phase where they will receive further information about the building, its creators as well as the future users. This allows the participants to further adapt their solution(s) to the building’s conditions in terms of feasibility.

One or more finalists can be granted to the co-creation phase. During that phase the teams' ideas will be validated. Only those who successfully pass the co-creation phase will be admitted for implementation. The overall implementation budget will be shared among all winners.

The jury consists of representatives of EDGE and Vattenfall and renowned professionals with high expertise in the fields of sustainability, technology, architecture and start-ups.

The winner(s) of the Sustainability Challenge will have the opportunity to implement their solution(s) in the new building (Carré) and/or on the Plaza. They will benefit from the increased visibility of the solution(s), the proof of concept (POC) and potential future business opportunities with the two renowned companies Vattenfall and EDGE.

Applicants who win the Pitch Day event move on to the co-creation phase. If they have participated successfully, they will receive a stipend of 5,000 euros.

The total budget for the realisation and implementation of the winning solution(s) is 100,000 euros. This includes the total costs of the winning solution(s) as well as all stipends and other compensation paid to the participants during the Sustainability Challenge. If there is more than one winning solution, the budget will be divided among the winning solution(s).

All submitted documents will be treated confidentially. They will be made available to the Evaluation Team and the jury – who are bound to secrecy – only for the purpose of conducting the selection process. Applicants entering the co-creation phase will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement and to treat all information confidentially and professionally.

The following information about the winner(s) of the Pitch Day event will be published for the purpose of public relations regarding the Sustainability Challenge:

• name of the company and logo
• basic information about the company
• brief description of the company’s projects
• name of the company
• year of establishment
• Industry area
• country of operation
• brief description of the product/solution

The applicants agree to align all communication related to the Sustainability Challenge during the co-creation and implementation phase with the organizer.

You can download the terms and conditions of the Sustainability Challenge here.

Please contact us via e-mail: sustainability-challenge@vattenfall.com