Undergraduates who came up with an idea to recycle leftover PVC (polyvinyl chloride) for ‘Pre-fabricated, DIY Block Garden’ received an Excellence Award Prize. Kyungil University (President, Hyun TaeChung) announced that Soon Cheol-Whang (sophomore) from the Department of New & Renewable Energy participated in the ‘PVC ECO-Design Award’ with two students from Yeungnam University, suggested the idea of creating a ‘DIY BLOCK GARDEN,’ and received a Prize of Excellence worth 4 million won from the Korea Environment Cooperation.

The pre-fabricated block they proposed was created with the purpose of providing a way for anyone to make gardens, and that is why its name is ‘PVC DIY(Do It Yourself) BLOCK GARDEN.’ It has characteristics to make up gardens along with an arranged space to build up blocks. In addition, it is eco-friendly and has excellent functions because PVC was recycled to create gardens for waterproof cloth and drainage layer as well as for blocks.

Particularly, their idea could contribute to city regeneration projects which have lately been discussed. Due to the nature of the blocks, people can easily assemble them in a variety of places such as a corner, an edge, and stairs of buildings as freely as they want. Moreover, it is very practical in the use of daily life because of its colors going well with surroundings.

Soon Cheol-Whang said that he would like to work at the New and Renewable Energy Center to make a match with his major, adding; “I am glad to get awarded the Excellence Prize since I challenged this test for the first time, and I also want the team’s ideas to include new values for the future in our daily life just like the topic of this contest.”

On the other hand, the PVC ECO-Design Award, the third contest this year managed by Korea Vinyl Environmental Council, intends to develop and promote new values by combining design with the availability and the recycling of resource efficiency of PVC. The students have were awarded at the 2017 Korea Eco-Friendly Contest that was held at COEX in Seoul for four days, and based on their idea, their works were displayed at an exhibition.