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‘Beyond Green’ Projects Recognized

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) recently announced the winners of its 2009 Beyond Green™ High-Performance Buildings Awards, in ceremonies on Capitol Hill held in partnership with the High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus Coalition. Awards were presented in the High-Performance Buildings and High-Performance Building Initiatives categories.

A first-place award in for High-Performance Buildings was presented for an “integrated energy-efficient retrofit” at the Empire State Building, submitted by the Rocky Mountain Institute, Jones Lang LaSalle, Clinton Climate Initiative, and Johnson Controls.

Also in the High-Performance Buildings category, citations were presented to:

• Emerson’s  Energy-Efficient Global Data Center, St. Louis, Mo., “innovative solution for a niche market application,” submitted by Emerson Electric Company;

• Charlotte Vermont House, Charlotte, Vt., “unique regional design response,” submitted by Pill-Maharem Architects; and

• Kroon Hall, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., “integrated design process,” submitted by Centerbrook Architects and Planners.

In the High-Performance Initiatives category, a citation was presented to SERA Architects and Interface Engineering’s project, Water Independence in Oregon’s Buildings, Portland, Ore., for “stewardship in water resources.”

The awards program attracted more than 40 entries from projects across the country. Entries were judged based on the eight design objectives that define a high-performance building: sustainability, accessibility, aesthetics, cost effectiveness, functionality, productivity/health, historic sensitivity, and safety and security. 
 
The highly rigorous competition challenged public and private sector practitioners to demonstrate the successful application of the whole-building approach by showing how they integrated the eight design objectives into their projects, SBIC said. The program is open to both SBIC members and nonmembers. 

“Our jury was impressed by the range and quality of submissions received for the 2009 competition," said Gregg Ander, FAIA, jury chair and chief architect for Southern California Edison. “Clearly the number of high-performance building practitioners has increased. And while this made our task particularly arduous, thoughtful deliberations allowed us to select a number of exciting projects.”

Submissions in the High-Performance Buildings category included commercial, government, institutional, residential, and school buildings. High-Performance Initiatives entries included policy programs, educational initiatives, consumer awareness efforts, research product development, and new construction processes.

The recognized projects will be featured on SBIC’s web site (sbicouncil.org), described in depth as case studies on the Whole Building Design Guide (www.WBDG.org), and integrated into a variety of SBIC educational programs.