For decades, Cathedral Kitchen has fed the hungry from the tiny kitchen of a former Catholic high school. After much fundraising, the nonprofit cut the ribbon on a 15,000 square foot facility. The new building not only benefits the community by making room for new programs but also through its environmentally friendly design.
Artsy Laguna Beach, Calif., has a strong sense of place. So while its residents welcomed the development of a community and senior center, they were also concerned about its aesthetic and environmental impact. The answer was to design a structure that would be economical, artistic, sustainable and functional for people of all ages.
Architecture is not an Olympic sport, but it is a key visual player that brands host cities with enduring iconic images. For the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the architectural legacy will be less about iconic buildings and more about the very Canadian values of collaboration, community consultation and environmental sensitivity.
As the eighth largest school district in the country, the School District of Philadelphia faces unique urban challenges, including constrained budgets, aging facilities and rising operating expenses. As part of a $1.5 billion capital program, the school district made the commitment that the new Commodore John Barry Elementary School, Philadelphia, Pa. would be an environmentally responsible model following district standards to replace the previously burned down school building on the same site.
The John Dorr Nature Laboratory is located in the greenest corner of western Connecticut. Tucked into the foothills of the Berkshires, it serves as an environmental campus for elementary through high school students who attend the Bronx-based Horace Mann School.
The Plumbing Efficiency Research Coalition (PERC) was founded in 2009 to develop research projects that will support the development of water efficiency and sustainable plumbing products, systems and practices. PERC’s inaugural research study will explore drainline transport efficacy with special consideration given to the impact of high-efficiency toilets.
Involved throughout the collaborative design process, the community’s interest in sustainability, as well as their agricultural roots, spurred architects to incorporate the community’s rural context into the design details of the new Severance Middle School.
The scene was reminiscent of a mall just before Christmas rather than the opening day of a county library. Yet, when the numbers were tallied, some 8,000 people had turned out to explore the vast nooks and crannies of the 94,000 square foot LEED Gold certified Lewis Library and Technology Center in Fontana, Calif.
The public address announcement was met with enthusiast applause from the sold-out crowd gathered for the Monday night basketball game: The Portland Trail Blazers’ Rose Garden is the first major league sports facility to earn LEED Gold. With the fans contributing to the team’s sustainability goals, reaching this milestone was a team effort.
Teachers at Hood River Middle School in Oregon had already established a curriculum that incorporated sustainable concepts, so when a bond was passed to build new music and science classrooms at their school they knew exactly what they wanted to do: use the new building as a ‘teaching tool’ that would illustrate sustainable ideas put into practice.
Liability for failing to meet green building standards can take many forms. Without applicable legal precedent, looking for potential green building liability requires best practices, including careful contract negotiation. Green building concerns may not present novel problems in drafting and negotiating contracts, but may create new contexts for old issues.
In many buildings, sustainability is invisible. It’s an unnoticed breath of clean air; it’s the reduced use of water in the bathroom; or it’s the history of the material you’re standing on while your attention is focused on your activity. But at Pioneer Middle School in DuPont, Wash., the value of sustainable choices and building features is not only visible but also linked to everyday learning.
The Southeast Community Center looks as natural as it historic park setting. But the 50,000-square-foot building is not just beautiful and functional for visitors. It also serves as an educational tool to shed light on how an environmentally friendly facility can and should be designed and built -- by seeing green from every angle.
