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When Buildings Go Green
Ten projects underscore the benefits
of sustainable design and building practices—to people,
the environment and the bottom line.
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Proving
the environmental, social and economic benefits of sustainable design
for clients of any size, the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Committee on the Environment (COTE) recently selected its annual
Top 10 “Green” Projects. These projects exemplify how
architectural design solutions can protect and enhance the environment
for a wide range of clients. In fact, this year’s winners (featured
on the following pages) included projects designed for the federal
government, large and small businesses, non-profit organizations
and even individuals.
The jury that selected the winning projects included: Randy Croxton,
FAIA, Croxton Collaborative; Sim van der Ryn, Van der Ryn Architects;
Horst Berger, City University of New York; and Guy Battle, Battle
McCarthy. The program, begun in 1998, recognizes projects that address
significant environmental challenges with designs that integrate
architecture, technology and natural systems. Projects are evaluated
for their contributions to their site’s and existing ecosystems,
connections to the surrounding community, use of high-performance
technologies, energy use and sensitive use of materials and resources.
Sustainable design is increasingly acknowledged—by architects,
their consultants, their clients and the public—as an important
characteristic of quality architecture. In the four years since
the Top Ten Green Projects awards program was started, numerous
projects have been realized as American firms ascended a learning
curve. Winning projects in this year’s groups come from firms
that are well-known for their leadership in sustainable design,
as well as several that are just beginning to utilize sustainable
principles in their approach to projects.
This award and the range of submissions it fields are representative
of the growing market transformation under way in this country and
around the world. Corporations and other organizations are becoming
increasingly aware of the benefits of sustainable design and building
practices—to people, the environment and to the bottom line.
Financial benefits are realized through energy and cost-of-operations
savings as well as reduced absenteeism and greater productivity
in some settings.
The AIA COTE represents more than 5,000 AIA architects committed
to making sustainable design integral to the practice of architecture.
It works to improve and sustain the environment by advancing and
disseminating environmental knowledge and values and advocating
the best design practices—those that integrate built and natural
systems—to the profession, industry and public. The Top 10
Green Projects initiative was developed in partnership with the
U.S. Department of Energy. Selected projects include new construction
and renovation of office, residential, academic, civic and institutional
facilities.
1. BANK OF ASTORIA
Manzanita, OR
Tom Bender, architect
This 7,500-square-foot bank building blends energy performance,
local ecological fitness, community benefit and economic success.
The design process focused on community, cultural, spiritual and
energetic dimensions of sustainability, as well as the more conventional
energy and material aspects. The facility benefits from significant
daylighting, on-site storm-water retention and natural ventilation
and cooling. Zoned high-efficiency fluorescent lighting is used
during just a quarter of the building’s occupied time. Local
materials were used where possible and landscaping is local native
coastal plants. The energy-efficient bank opened just before last
summer’s West Coast energy shortages, which led to a strong
sense of local pride in the facility.
Contact: Tom Bender
e-mail: tom@tombender.org;
503-368-6294
2. BUILDING 850, ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY
SHOWCASE PROJECT
Port Hueneme, CA
CTG Energetics
This project is home to the Naval Base Ventura County Public Works
Department and consists of 10,000 square feet of renovated space
and 7,000 square feet of new construction. Concepts and systems
incorporated into the design include: daylighting, shading and innovative
glazing elements; maximum use of natural ventilation; photovoltaic
power generation; solar space and domestic water heating systems;
lighting with continuously dimming electronic ballasts and occupancy
and photo sensor controls; real-time energy monitoring; HVAC systems
demonstrating several new technologies including prototype natural-gas
heat-pump air conditioning, variable air volume under-floor air
distribution and high-efficiency pulse boilers; gray water system
for capture and reuse of rain water and lavatory discharge; self-sustaining
landscaping and water conserving irrigation system; indoor air quality
monitoring; and extensive use of recycled building materials. Project
designers used physical and computerized modeling to optimize the
interaction of daylighting with building envelope, interiors and
systems.
Contact: Malcolm Lewis, PE
e-mail: mlewis@ctg-net.com;
949-790-0010
3. CAMP ARROYO
Livermore, CA
Siegel & Strain Architects
This environmental education camp, which serves middle school as
well as critically ill children and other guests, was designed to
demonstrate a series of ecological design principles as part of
the curriculum. Bathhouses are made of stabilized earth, while the
cabins are efficient wood structures. The dining hall is a straw-bale
building. Low-tech solutions to heating, cooling and water treatment
were favored over more complex mechanical technologies for energy
efficiency, lower cost and simplicity. Bathhouses are open-air,
seasonal structures with natural ventilation and no mechanical system.
Cabins and dining hall depend on shading strategies and operable
clerestory windows to keep them cool. The cabins have south-facing
sunrooms for winter heat gain and solar panels for water heating
and backup radiant heat. The biological wastewater treatment system
will treat water with minimal energy input, demonstrating that there
is no waste in nature.
Contact: Henry Siegel
e-mail: hsiegel@siegelstrain.com;
510-457-8092
4. EDIFICIO MALECON
Buenos Aires, Argentina
HOK
This 125,000-square-foot office building was built on a reclaimed
brownfield site (its garage was built within the foundations of
a 19th-century warehouse) at Puerto Madero, a redevelopment area
in Buenos Aires. The building was developed as a long narrow slab
to minimize solar gain on the structure; the east and west ends
of which are “pinched.” The broad northern face, the primary
solar exposure, is shaped to track the sun and is fully screened
with deep sunshades that virtually eliminate direct solar radiation
during peak cooling months. The south face, which reflects the geometry
of the northern façade, is equipped with the same high-performance
curtain wall system as the other facades, minimizing solar gain.
A “green roof” helps insulate the 40,000-square-foot podium
from solar radiation and manages storm water runoff. Open floor
plates and raised floors provide flexibility for multi-tenant office
or alternative future uses.
Contact: Ripley Rasmus, AIA
e-mail: ripley.rasmus@hok.com;
314-421-2000
5. IOWA ASSOCIATION OF MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
Ankeny, IA
RDG Bussard Dikis
This 13,000-square-foot facility, the Iowa Association of Municipal
Utilities (IAMU) Office and Training Headquarters, was conceived
as a teaching tool. Designed and built within a modest budget, its
energy consumption is 48 percent less than a conventional design,
and it is 98 percent day-lit. The building uses a geothermal heat
pump system for heating and cooling. Building occupants enjoy multiple
views of the landscape and sky from any point inside the building.
This project has also restored a suburban farm field, destined for
commercial development, into a native Iowa tall-grass prairie. Soil
erosion had been plaguing the site, harming nearby Carney Marsh,
a 40-acre protected wetland. The reconstructed prairie, wetlands
and siltration ponds have recreated habitat for flora and fauna.
Contact: Kevin R. Nordmeyer, AIA
e-mail: knormeyer@rdgusa.com;
515-288-3141
6. NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION HEADQUARTERS
Reston, VA
HOK
The new 85,000-square-foot headquarters serves 300 employees and
guests. The National Wildlife Federation made a commitment to build
a headquarters facility that would demonstrate sensible stewardship
of its financial resources. It accomplished this through a rigorous
payback analysis to select “state-of-the-shelf” construction
technologies and materials. Native plantings support local wildlife
and reduce the need for irrigation and frequent mowing. The building’s
orientation capitalizes on solar energy sources to reduce energy
expenditure and increase natural light. The facility’s north
side, which overlooks the park, is a curtain wall of glass that
offers beautiful vistas and floods the interior spaces with light
to create a welcoming atmosphere. The southern facade has a vertical
trellis planted with deciduous vines that leaf out in summer to
provide shade and fall off in winter to allow sunlight to help heat
the facility. The plantings also provide a vertical habitat for
indigenous wildlife.
Contact: William Hellmuth, AIA
e-mail: bill.hellmuth@hok.com;
202-339-8700
7. ADAM JOSEPH LEWIS CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES, OBERLIN COLLEGE
Oberlin, OH
William McDonough + Partners
Designed to be restorative, the center celebrates the interaction
of human and natural environments. With a goal to be a net-energy
exporter, the teaching and public space integrates natural energy
flows while blurring the distinction between indoors and out. The
light-drenched, two-story atrium serves as the primary organizing
feature and the southern campus’ “town hall.” Daylighting
and natural ventilation enhance the atrium’s feeling of an
“outdoor room.” The project demonstrates how state-of-the-art
thinking applies to readily available state-of-the-shelf materials
and building systems. Throughout, the design team remained mindful
of how even the most advanced systems still must serve the needs
of the building’s occupants.
Contact: Kevin Burke, AIA
e-mail: kburke@mcdonough.com;
434-979-1111
8. PIER ONE
San Francisco, CA
SMWM
This adaptive reuse project transformed a dilapidated warehouse
on San Francisco’s waterfront to 140,000 square feet of class
A office space and an acre of new public open space. The design
reflects the history and nature of the site, uses green materials
garnered from green sources and provides clean air and natural light
for occupants. Pier One is surrounded by water, which flows through
radiant tubes in floor slabs for heating and cooling. This system
moderates the interior climate according to each zone’s location
and orientation. Generated heat is rejected into a submerged condenser
water loop under the building, dissipating energy into the bay within
a tightly prescribed temperature range.
Contact: Dan Cheetham, AIA
e-mail: kkowalski@smwm.com;
415-546-0400
9. PUGET SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER
Bainbridge Island, WA
Mithun
The 70,000-square-foot facility includes an interpretive center,
a great hall, offices, learning studios, dining hall, art studio,
maintenance building and visitor accommodations. Wastewater is treated
on site and reused. Rainwater is collected for irrigation and other
uses. Photovoltaic installation provides more than half of the power
for the learning-studio building. Rooftop solar hot water panels
reduce hot water demand at lodges and dining hall by 50 percent.
Ventilation replaces air conditioning, with operable skylights providing
maximum through-ventilation. High-efficiency fluorescent lighting
with photocells reduces energy use. High-quality metal roofs and
metal clad windows will provide long life in the heavily wooded
Northwest environment.
Contact: Bert Gregory, AIA
e-mail: bertg@mithun.com;
206-623-7005
10. TOFTE CABIN
Tofte, MN
Sarah Nettleton Architects
The renovation of a 1947 cabin resulted in a 950-square-foot soul-satisfying
retreat that is a model of sustainable design. The cabin’s
original site and adjacent trees were retained to shelter the cabin
from winter winds and open it to sun and wind from the east and
south. The locally quarried granite’s color echoes the color
of the spruce and the lake as it references the granite bedrock
beneath the house. Natural stack ventilation through low and high
windows cools the cabin. An air-to-air heat exchanger provides ventilation.
A super-insulated thermal envelope minimized the load on the geothermal
heat pump in-floor heating system. The heat pump provides domestic
hot water as well. Built with long-lasting materials and careful
details, the cabin is a beautiful retreat that will serve for generations.
Contact: Sarah Nettleton, AIA
e-mail: sn@sarah-architects.com;
612-334-9667
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