Just in time for Earth Day, Tamalpais Creek, a California senior living community, received LEED Silver certification from USGBC this month. This project was a first on many levels - it's the first LEED project for our client, Atria Senior Living, as well as the two contractors on our team.
"This major renovation, tenant-occupied from start to finish, shows real possibilities for green renovations in senior living. We're looking forward to applying lessons learned from this process to future projects where clients seek to modernize as well as upgrade energy and water use efficiency," said Principal and Director of Senior Housing, Jerry McDevitt.
The renovation re-used 93% of the existing building and 576 tons of construction waste were diverted from the landfill. Today, residents enjoy ample day lighting through energy efficient windows, controllable thermal comfort systems and native, drought-tolerant landscaping. For more details, check out the green case study.
GGLO provided architectural, interior and landscape design services for Tamalpais Creek, as well as conducting LEED administration. This latest accomplishment expands our large and rapidly growing list of projects that have acheived green building benchmarking standards, summarized below:
- 4,400 housing units designed to green benchmarking standards
- 5,750,000 gross square feet designed to green benchmarking standards
- 900 housing units LEED certified
- 1,500,000+ gross square feet LEED certified
We are honored to share that GGLO will be presented the AIA Seattle Community Service Award at the 2011 Honors Dinner on May 21. The annual Honor Awards recognize "leadership and acheivement in design and the built environment," for architects and partners in other professions who make a difference through design.
Executive Director of AIA Seattle Lisa Richmond commented on the awards: "Good design makes a difference, but the architectural community can't do it alone." At GGLO, our mission of design for the human experience is enriched by partnering with clients, organizations and community members who inspire our work.
This is the first time that a firm has been recognized with the Community Service Award. Brandon Nicholson of Nicholson Kovalchick (NK) Architects is the individual recipient of the award.
We look forward to celebrating along with our industry colleagues and partners in May!
See the Press Release here.
Our client, King County Housing Authority, recently announced that Sixth Place Apartments (aka Greenbridge 5) is home to the largest residential photovoltaic array in Washington. Funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds and solar tax credits, the 52.2 kilowatt array is expected to generate 52,558 kilowatt hours per year after going online this summer.
Senior Associate Jon Hall, project manager for Sixth Place Apartments, was quoted in the release from KCHA:
"We're delighted that the installation of the solar array can be completed concurrently with the construction of the Sixth Place Apartments. This is just one of the many strategies we employed in this sustainably designed project to increase energy efficiency."
The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, West Seattle Herald, CNBC, Solar Washington, Solar Energy Industries Association newsletter, Sun Herald and International Business Times are just a few of the news sources sharing the story.
Just in time for Earth Day, Tamalpais Creek, a California senior living community, received LEED Silver certification from USGBC this month. This project was a first on many levels - it's the first LEED project for our client, Atria Senior Living, as well as the two contractors on our team.