Design – Construction – Operations
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Construction crews recently topped out the new Martin Luther King Jr. School in Cambridge, Mass. The 169,000-square-foot school has been designed to target Net Zero energy consumption, and will serve an estimated 740 students.
DAVIS, CALIF. — UC Davis’ new winery, brewery and food-processing complex received LEED Platinum certification, establishing it as the first university facility of its kind to receive the award.
The grand opening of the new $20 million, 34,000-square-foot teaching-and-research complex located within the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science is scheduled for January 28.
Read moreSchool districts and architectural firms nationwide are pushing the envelope in green school design, seeking out new and efficient HVAC systems, lighting methods, water and irrigation tools, and other ways to make academic buildings lean and green.
Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, says that just building a green school is no longer enough, and that achieving LEED certification is increasingly becoming a hallmark of sustainable design to a building’s constituents, as well as to the greater community.
Read moreTUCSON, Ariz. — A recently expanded recreation center at the University of Arizona was awarded LEED Platinum certification. Designed by architectural firm Sasaki in partnership with M3 Engineering out of Tucson — and originally targeting LEED Silver — the completed project integrates passive solar, programmed outdoor space, daylighting strategies and indoor environmental quality as fundamentals of the building, according to reports.
Read moreSustainable design concepts can take hold in a variety of different ways. Some school planners are forced to take a subtle approach, incorporating design techniques that offer the most cost-effective solutions for communities that are still not sold on the legitimacy of the green building. Other planners have the luxury of stretching their arms and grasping new ideas that push the boundaries of what can be done to produce high-performance, sustainable schools.
Read more
