Port of Portland Headquarters Demonstrates Pioneering Green Strategies Without Sacrificing Design

The Port of Portland recently consolidated their headquarters into a green office building designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF). Situated right next to the PDX airport, the new Port of Portland Headquarters is a LEED gold office that unifies the entity responsible for Portland's airport, shipping terminals and more. The project was finished in May of 2010 and it includes a green roof, a living machine to process waste water, geothermal heating and cooling, plus a plethora of other sustainable strategies.

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L.A. County Dedicates First Green Library

Whittier is now home to Los Angeles County's first green library, which was dedicated last week and opened at the beginning of October. The Sorensen Library received a LEED silver rating. It is made entirely of steel and 40% recycled materials. The roof reduces heat gain, and the interior lighting is engineered to only turn on when natural light is insufficient. Even the parking lot is built to minimize environmental impact - it absorbs rainwater in order to reduce the toxins in Santa Monica Bay. The library is part of the County’s Sustainable Design Implementation program.

Transit Oriented Housing Community Sets Precedent for Future Community Living Spaces

Designed by San Francisco based architect David Baker and built in tandem, these two affordable designed housing communities, Armstrong Place and Armstrong Senior Housing, compose a new landscaped neighborhood that fills an entire city block. Encircling a vast public courtyard, Armstrong Place offers 124 affordable for-sale townhouses targeted to keeping families in San Francisco. Across a shared pedestrian mews, Armstrong Senior Housing brings 116 affordable senior homes, prepped for aging in place, to the area, as well as retail space for a teen health clinic and and organic juice bar. The Senior building, which features solar panels, a rain garden to manage storm water and, a "quilt wall" inspired by traditional African fabrics, was recently awarded LEED Gold Certification.

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Edward Cullinan Architects Discusses How to "Green" Your Office Building

Baldwin Terrace – ECA OfficeTom Dollard from ‘Team Green’ at Edward Cullinan Architects (ECA) sent Hattie Hartman's Sustainability Blog Footprint a report with steps they’ve taken to ‘green’ their office:

As architects, it is essential that we lead by example when it comes to green living. We can guide our clients and designs from our own experience by living and working in a sustainable way.

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St. Jerome Parish Hall Achieves LEED Silver Certification

International design firm Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A. (Cuningham Group) announces that the St. Jerome Parish Hall remodeling project has achieved LEED® Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The St. Jerome Parish Hall project is the first project with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to become LEED® certified. It was certified Silver per the USBGC “New Construction and Major Renovation” Category, Version 2.2.

Following the Church’s teachings that the environment is God’s gift to everyone, the Parish made a commitment to create a “green” hall within the remodeling project. Sustainable goals were in place from the outset as Cuningham Group, Stonemark Construction Management and the client collaborated on making sustainability a visible priority in the design. Features include innovative mechanical system controls; new skylights to boost and equalize ambient lighting in the gym; water-conserving restroom fixtures; new glazing; new lighting and lighting control systems; reused or selected materials with significant recycledcontent; and better metering of electrical power.

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