The Brody Learning Commons at Johns Hopkins University, which has been packed since its doors opened last August, has something big to celebrate this week: LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council. It’s the first new construction on the school’s Homewood campus to earn this distinction.

The Learning Commons’ sustainable strategies include:

Managing solar gain: Heat gain and loss from the glass curtain wall system was combated by high-performance glass, automated interior shades, and perimeter (hydronic) heating and cooling.
Energy efficiency: While the under-floor air distribution system ...[more]

LEED certification for the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Specialty Center-Detroit sends a powerful message: helping children grow up healthy starts with a healthy environment. The Center, which was completed in 2012, is the first LEED-certified project on the hospital’s urban campus.

“We are very pleased to offer our patients and families and staff this facility built just for them,” says Herman Gray, MD, president, DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan. “Knowing that the building is also LEED certified supports our mission to continually work to improve the ...[more]

Hamline University celebrated the newest addition to the school’s St. Paul, Minnesota, campus on Friday, with the dedication of the Carol Young Anderson and Dennis L. Anderson University Center.

Hamline President Linda Hanson was joined by alumni, students, faculty, staff, and community leaders for the event, and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman proclaimed October, 5 2012 as Hamline University Anderson Center Day in the city. Composer and pianist Steven C. Anderson, Hamline ’88, debuted “Gratitude,” his musical composition commissioned for the occasion, at the alumni dinner the previous evening.

In her ...[more]

The paired Phoenix dining destination of Windsor and Churn has taken top category honors in the 32nd annual Valley Forward Environmental Excellence Awards, which were announced on September 29. Windsor and Churn, designed by Shepley Bulfinch with redeveloper Venue Projects and Upward Projects, received Valley Forward’s Crescordia (first place) Award (Historic Preservation) and a Merit Award (Commercial/Mixed-Use).

The Valley Forward Association’s Environmental Excellence Awards (EEA) program is Arizona’s oldest and largest environmental competition.

The adaptive reuse project transformed a 1940s retail structure into a lively and open restaurant (The ...[more]

Design is now near completion for a new science facility for Colby College, with plans to break ground later this year.

The 36,400 square foot building on the Waterville, Maine, campus, will be home to the departments of computer science, mathematics and statistics, and psychology, with teaching and research space that will include robotics and psychology labs, seminar rooms, and classrooms.

In keeping with its commitment to the environment, Colby will pursue LEED Silver certification on the new building. It is scheduled for completion in 2014.

The science building is part of the implementation of Colby’s ...[more]

Last week’s publication of the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) marks a major milestone in sustainable design, construction, and operations, as we shift from an incentive-based approach toward a regulatory one.

While current building codes were developed to protect life and safety of present building occupants, the IgCC expands its purview to protect the environment on behalf of the wider community, both present and future.  This new overlay code builds on current systems of voluntary design guidelines and goals, moving toward mandatory adherence to principles of sustainable ...[more]

The construction of the Library and Learning Commons at Salem State University marked a major milestone today, as the structure was topped off with the last steel beam put in place. In keeping with tradition, an American flag (right) was hoisted to the top of the building, accompanied by a small tree.

The 122,000 s.f. library project is pursuing a minimum of LEED Silver certification. The firm’s other LEED certified university projects include Marquette Law School; additions to Perkins Library at Duke University; and Duke Library at Furman. Shepley Bulfinch also ...[more]