This is truly an option at the The Plenary Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Recently a guest from Australia enlightened me….so I am excited to pass this along. Check out this place out in action at the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tqlqYNo2TM

We’re going to find out….. I am immensely honored to be selected by the AIA President as a member of the newly formed Sustainability and Health Advisory Committee. The committee consists of some amazing talent from around the sustainable industry. These individuals have all been my mentors and inspiration for the past 8 years and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with them on the future of sustainable education and training at the AIA. Although sustainability is becoming more and more of a mainstream design process, as an industry, we are not achieving our goals and we have A LOT of work to do.

* image by By William J. Worthen, AIA, Director Resource Architect for Sustainability 

http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB088654

When he was six years old, Todd Bertsch, AIA, moved with his family to Atlanta from Pocatello, Idaho. Through what he calls “serendipity,” Todd never left. He earned his architecture degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has spent his entire professional career in Atlanta. In 2008, he joined HOK as design director in our Atlanta office.

Todd and his wife, also an architect, live with their 11-year-old daughter in a house they designed together near Piedmont Park in Atlanta’s vibrant Virginia Highland neighborhood.

“I have seen Atlanta undergo a tremendous transformation over the past 30 years,” says Todd. “It is still young compared to Paris or New York, but Atlanta is on its way to becoming one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. We love this community.”

What do you enjoy most about being an architect?

TB: I love our clients. I get to work with scientists, educators, corporate executives — brilliant people who are changing the world. It’s exciting to share in their mission.

Practicing architecture is this incredible collision of solving technical problems, exploring philosophical ideas and expressing creativity. We have the opportunity to affect what our communities look like, how society operates and how people live. We can blend beauty and poetry to create these high-performance buildings that have a positive influence on the world. These challenges thrill me every day.

I love the energy that our young architects and designers bring. They are our daily vitamin — the Red Bull that energizes us.

How do you share in your clients’ missions?

We kick off projects with visioning sessions to uncover our their goals and aspirations, learn about what they do every day and talk about the environments they imagine for themselves.

As we design a building, we need our clients’ facility teams and the end users to keep participating in the process. We want them to be ambitious about their goals and to challenge us every day.

What is a typical day like for you?

My days are all different. But there are those special times late at night, often at the dinner table at home, when I have a pen and a roll of tracing paper in hand and a deadline in front of me. I can quietly work through all the issues and find the inspiration to inform a project. Designers live for those times.

How do you know when you find the right solution?

When I sketch, I’m relying on the proven connection between hand and brain. My hand doesn’t work on autopilot but, after 25 years, it works in a very natural way. As I’m drawing, my mind is stimulated and I begin to get a feeling about the right direction.

We know we have the right solution when we can explain a concept to a room full of clients who will occupy the building and they are as excited about it as we are. The real test comes after a building has been operating for a few years and the client is still psyched about it.

I was recently watching a young soccer player on ESPN explain that all the hard work between games that we never see is what leads to their victories on the field. Creating a great building is like that – it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work. There is no single creative burst or big idea that provides all the answers. It’s a long, challenging process that demands a commitment from every team member to resolve thousands of issues.

What were the challenges for the design of Porsche’s North American Headquarters and Customer Experience Center in Atlanta?

Porsche is a client with a distinct design signature for its products: performance expressed in an elegant, understated language. A project driven by performance and simple beauty is right up my alley!

HOK won this commission through a design competition. Porsche provided a three-page design brief and we had three weeks to design a building. We spent the first week engrossing ourselves in Porsche’s brand. We didn’t allow ourselves to think about the program or the site or begin to contemplate a design solution. We thought about what it means to be Porsche — the essence of its brand and design. We studied the history of Porsche and Ferdinand Porsche’s philosophy for designing automobiles.

Next, we spent a week brainstorming, charretting and challenging each other. To consolidate the team’s energy, we dedicated one room in our office to Porsche. People talked, sketched and referenced written material. In the end, we developed a design solution that solved the technical challenges while capturing Porsche’s poetry.

Porsche’s North American HQ and Customer Experience Center in Atlanta

Can you describe the design solution?

The architectural language is representative of the simple, yet refined and performance-driven aesthetic of Porsche.

It is an incredible brownfield site at the edge of one of the world’s busiest airports. The site is at the intersection of multiple modes of transportation: highways, trains, rail lines, buses and airplanes. It is the perfect location for Porsche’s headquarters.

Porsche has a challenging program that is seeking to create a single home for all its communities. They are bringing employees from traditional office buildings to this unique headquarters that celebrates their automobiles. There’s a training center where Porsche mechanics and technicians will learn about their automobiles. There’s a customer experience center where people will learn to really drive the cars in all conditions. Our design solution provides a single, integrated home for all these communities.

From the moment they arrive on site, the design keeps all the users connected to Porsche’s automobiles on display inside the headquarters and out on the track. The corridors have glass walls with views to the track and airport.

The performance track actually passes under the building. As the automobile moves through the track and under the building, people feel a powerful connection to Porsche’s brand.

In addition to creating a high-productivity work environment, our design addresses energy efficiency and sustainability. This includes the building’s solar orientation and giving Porsche’s people access to lots of daylight.

Tell me about the University of Florida Lake Nona Research Center.

This is a new building that opened last fall on the University of Florida’s satellite campus in Orlando. It is part of the Lake Nona Medical City, which includes the Burnham Institute and several other healthcare institutions and research organizations. The site is a confluence of organizations aspiring to improve people’s health.

The building’s unique attribute is the blend of undergraduate teaching and learning space with state-of-the-art research. We wanted the undergraduate students to see and get excited about the cool research going on inside the building. Our solution combined these activities under one roof while providing a bridge between the university and other Lake Nona research institutions.

This is a very modern building, with a design driven by ideas of energy efficiency and sustainability. To link it with the main University of Florida campus in Gainesville, which is a beautiful, traditional campus with brick as the dominant material, we introduced a high-performance, terra cotta rain screen.

University of Florida Lake Nona Research Center in Orlando

What is your project for Georgia Regents University?

We designed the new Medical Education Commons at Georgia Regents University. It is a commons building for the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry and other departments, and it is under construction in Augusta.

The building will support new teaching pedagogies and learning strategies that complement and replace the traditional lecture format. Our design emphasizes the social nature of a commons building. It has lots of state-of-the-art classrooms and simulation labs that support experiential learning. Yet the spaces that surround and connect these classrooms are as important to the learning process.

These medical students spend long hours in the classroom. The design provides a café and lots of nice, informal and touchdown spaces where students can gather and work together.

There are 13 learning communities that act as a home away from home for 20 to 40 students. Each has a lounge area with a small kitchen, a private conference room and casual seating to support aspects of student life that aren’t about work and books.

Georgia Regents University Medical Education Commons in Augusta, Georgia

How do you create environments that help your teams design great projects?

As design leaders, it’s our job to create a safe zone where clients and team members can drop their preconceived ideas, suspend reality and contemplate the possibilities.

It has been nearly one thousand days since Earth Day 2010.  I’m proud to be part of a firm that celebrates this day as passionately as we do.  It means something.  Our belief in and commitment to sustainability is unparalleled amongst our competition.  Every year we campaign and rally around our messages as if an election was at stake.  We’ve turned the lights out.  We’ve recharged.  We go above and beyond to prove to the world that we care about the world.  I like this.

One thousand days ago, it was this passion and commitment that drove me to stop driving.  On Earth Day 2010, I sold my car.  For many of my colleagues in DC, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and other “big” cities, feel free to stop reading anytime.  You probably already don’t have a car.  An even a few of my local St. Louis colleagues don’t have one.  I say kudos to all of you.  Perhaps you have already gone through this lifestyle transformation.  Every city is unique with its own transportation quirks and challenges, and St. Louis is no different.  I’ve wanted to share my transformation story for some time – not to brag (believe me, many days I feel, well, odd) – but to encourage others to continue to take action in support of living sustainably.  I also wanted to wait to share my story until I was sure the transformation would stick.  It stuck.

Sunrise over the City

The story actually dates back to late 2009 when my family was considering new real estate for ourselves.  Part of my criteria for a home purchase was to live within one mile of a Metrolink (St. Louis’ light rail) station and within a quarter mile of a bus stop.  We came across a property that just barely met those specifications.  We bought it, moved in, and I sold my car.

I now have a lot of choices in terms of getting from point A (my house) to point B (my train station) to point C (my office).  I am an athletic person.  I like to bike.  I love to run.  But I am by no means exceptionally talented at either.  I could simply bike from A to C (about 11 miles), skipping B entirely.  A few of my St. Louis colleagues do this impressively every single day of the year, rain or shine.  I could walk (or run) from A to B, then train from B to C.  Or I could bus from A to B and then transfer to the train.  Any one of these choices has logistics associated with it, and I think this is the biggest hurdle for anyone to overcome when considering an alternative transportation lifestyle.  Let me clearly state that having a shower in the office is an absolute prerequisite for any of these transportation lifestyles.

Metrolink, St. Louis' Light Rail

From a logistical perspective, biking might be the easiest choice.  All of my clothing and work materials can be stuffed in panniers or my backpack for the commutes.  It was my original intention to bike the majority of days, and I did so exclusively for a number of weeks.  As the summer approached, the days became longer and warmer.  Biking was a fantastic way to begin and end each day.  However, as winter approached and days became wetter, shorter, darker and colder, biking was certainly less appealing on a daily basis.  Plus, I was missing my running life.

After switching houses and selling my car, changing gyms was a very easy transformation.  I found one that is literally attached to the parking garage of a different train station.  In the winter, this gym allows me to get in a good run without adding any extra commuting time.  In the summer, Forest Park (another stop on the Metrolink) is my home for running.

A Glimpse of Impressive Architecture along the Walk

I tried the bus for a while too.  It’s a quick four minute walk to the bus stop, and then a short ride to the train station.  However, I found it surprisingly inconvenient.  St. Louis’ train system is amazingly punctual.  You can expect it to arrive on time 99% of the time (to the minute).  It is very impressive.  The buses, however, not so much.  I found myself needing to arrive at the bus stop at least five minutes early (in case the bus came early, which it often did) only to sometimes wait 15 minutes for it to arrive (because it was 10 minutes late, which it often was).  St. Louis indeed has four seasons.  In the winter, standing for 15 minutes is not at all enjoyable.  In the summer, if I’m in work clothes, I could be dripping with sweat, even at 6:00am.  I now use the bus only when I have a suitcase to lug.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

After testing the waters with many commuting solutions, I find that walking to the train is best for me.  I did try running to the train, but it’s simply not possible to carry anything without it flopping around in my backpack.  As long as I’m moving in the winter, I stay warm enough with the proper dress.  In the summer, I wear workout clothes to stay cool.  I hit the gym as many mornings as I can during the week.  I keep some clothes in the office and rotate them home in my backpack to launder.  For a while, I kept the train times plugged into my Outlook calendar.  Now, I know them all by heart.

My parents recently went on vacation, and I borrowed their car for two weeks while they were away.  I admit, I did enjoy the freedom of the commute.  It certainly did save me time, especially when working late and travelling home with zero traffic.  I could more quickly make a stop to run errands along the way.  After all, much of our society and economy is geared around the automobile for cities like St. Louis, Atlanta and Los Angeles.  But as much as I was enjoying the temporary adjustment to my transportation, I was missing my everyday routine even more.  The twenty minute train rides are my time to read books, catch-up on emails or even catch a nap.  The one-mile walks at the beginning and end of my day remind me to breathe, think and briefly escape.  A car does not allow me to do any of those things.  Plus, it burns a lot of fossil fuels too (even the electric ones).

P.S. – Thanks to everyone whom I’ve bummed rides from over the past 1,000 days!  I also want to thank Enterprise Car Rental for their downtown WeCar hybrid car sharing program, which has been very handy.

Like a proud father, Kenneth Drucker, FAIA, notes that two of his New York team’s projects that began more than half a decade ago have opened in recent months: Harlem Hospital’s new Mural Pavilion and a replacement hospital for the University Medical Center at Princeton.

While keeping an eye on all of the projects coming out of HOK’s New York studio, Ken is also designing a headquarters for Korean energy company Samchully in Seoul and the Singapore Chancery infill building in Manhattan. He recently began design of a new ambulatory care center for New York-Presbyterian Hospital on a prominent Upper East Side site. Finally, he just returned from giving a presentation on the integration of academic buildings into campus and urban neighborhoods in Toronto and another presentation on tall buildings and biomimicry in Shanghai. Now in his 14th year as HOK’s design director in New York, Ken clearly is hitting his stride.

Tell me about the projects you have been working on.

KD: We won a design commission for the new pavilion at Harlem Hospital after several firms were asked to incorporate prominent WPA-era murals into the design. Our client asked us to prominently display the original WPA murals created by African American artists during the 1930s. These had never previously been placed on public display. To celebrate this artwork and life in Harlem, we used digital technology to turn the murals into the building’s primary façade directly facing Lenox Avenue. The mural by Vertis Hayes, “In Pursuit of Happiness,” speaks to the diaspora of African Americans in Harlem and connects the hospital to its community. It is a privilege to develop iconic civic architecture in such a historically significant community.

Harlem Hospital Mural Pavilion
New York, New York

We had the opportunity to design a new hospital for the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro on a 150-acre campus. The building’s gentle arc embraces the southern exposure and the beautiful views while bringing in daylight. Blending hospitality and healthcare, the public concourse invites people in and features views to the park and a clear wayfinding system. The horizontal and vertical organization is very strong.

University Medical Center of Princeton
Plainsboro, New Jersey

The Singapore Chancery is under construction here in New York. Our challenge was to create an iconic yet secure building at a townhouse scale. Five twisted glass blades in the main facade of the building represent the five attributes of the Singaporean government. A slot atrium separates the programmed spaces from the core spaces while drawing in daylight from the south.

Singapore Chancery
New York, New York

Last spring, we won a competition to design the new University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. We are beginning schematic design for this $375 million, 540,000-square-foot academic medical campus. This building will help revitalize downtown Buffalo and become a new iconic landmark for the city, which is a living museum of buildings designed by Wright, Kahn, Saarinen, Richardson, Sullivan and landscapes by Olmsted. The design is creating a memorable heart and soul for the medical school and a gateway to a future downtown campus for the University at Buffalo while responding to the context of the adjacent historic district of Allentown. The building will be constructed on top of an existing NFTA subway system and connect to other new buildings that will make up the new Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. The project has aspirations for LEED Gold.

University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Buffalo, New York

For the past three years, we have been master planning for New York-Presbyterian Hospital‘s downtown and uptown campuses. Now we are designing a nine-story, 540,000-square-foot ambulatory care center on the downtown campus at York Avenue and 68th Street. This building will become the hospital’s new front door and civic identity. We want it to relieve some of the pressure patients feel when they come to a healthcare setting on an urban site. The team is looking at daylighting and façade treatments that protect occupants while giving them views to the city and to the original historic campus on the East River.

Internationally, we are just completing the design development phase for a 200,000-square-foot headquarters building for Samchully, the Con Edison of Seoul. The site is a stone’s throw from the National Assembly on Yeouido Island. The design creates a series of four stacked boxes, three of which are cantilevered over the initial box and a “fifth” box defined by a civic-scaled trellis. The facades are sawtoothed in plan while the orientation of the sawtooth changes on each box. The overall impression is that of a stone building when looking at the building obliquely. Yet it gives the building the perception of being taller than it is — 380 feet — by accentuating the verticality of the sawtooth.

Samchully Headquarters
Seoul, South Korea

Why do you enjoy working on international projects?

Our New York studio has designed more than seven million square feet in Korea over the past five years. In addition to Korea, I have worked in China, India, Vietnam and Brazil. I love these projects, and so do my team members, because our clients allow us to incubate and test ideas about building materials and systems. We get to design everything from public spaces to tall buildings and we get to see the projects built in an amazingly fast timeframe.

It is important not to impose our Western values on international projects. We integrate the design into the local context and environment and look for ways for architecture to express each culture and that culture’s relationship to nature. Our international clients have a unique respect for HOK’s ideas and want our knowledge. That’s a rewarding feeling.

New Songdo City Blocks D22 (left) and D23 (right)
Incheon, South Korea

Take me through your design process.

Design should always be a highly collaborative process. The New York design studio is filled with an ensemble of exceptionally talented people, both on the technical and design side. We strive to produce a balance between the art and science of architecture. We encourage design conversations and collaboration with even the youngest designers. I want ideas to be generated from the entire team and try to guide, mentor and nurture our up-and-coming designers.

The design process is one of analysis, discovery, optimization, composition, placemaking and programmatic analysis before refining concepts to engage both the context and environment. We never begin the design process with a preconceived solution to the problem we are being asked to solve.

What is great architecture?

Great architecture responds to the client’s needs, the environment and its context. Great architecture pleases people. It uplifts the human spirit.

New Songdo City Sheraton Incheon Hotel
Incheon, South Korea

What inspires you?

Nature and its simplicity inspire me. Biology and the relationship between the natural and built world inspire me. The people I meet and work with inspire me. I try to lead and inspire them, too.

The underlying theme is that I want to improve the human condition and leave the world for my kids in a better place than it was left for me. The impact of global warming, as seen recently with Hurricane Sandy, deeply concerns me. I choose to live in New York City because I believe it is one of the most sustainable places to live in the US.

What is the next frontier for sustainable design?

The next frontier is net zero energy, net zero carbon emissions and beyond to net positive design, as well as biomimetic design.

We designed a project in Brazil that was inspired by biomimicry and the rainforest. Using biology for inspiration doesn’t mean that the building will function like a biological organism, but it allowed us to design a site-specific building that emulates the performance of the natural environment. I had romantic visions of the Amazon rainforest prior to my trip to Brazil and was saddened to see the impact of Sao Paolo’s 21 million residents on their indigenous habitat. We wanted our project to provide hope and reintroduce life’s principles to revitalize the building’s neighborhood and contribute to Sao Paolo.

Commercial Center
Sao Paolo, Brazil

What are your favorite places in New York City?

I like the interaction of the city with its parks and the water. Across the street from our office, Bryant Park is a harmonizing civic space filled with a variety of activity. It’s occupied almost 24 hours a day. Central Park is one of my favorite places. I live between Riverside Park and Central Park and appreciate the juxtaposition of the edges of these parks, the street walls and the parks themselves. The open spaces of the city are where we also get show off the great diversity of the city. I love the water’s edge around New York City and the reclamation of that edge from industrial to recreational uses.

We live near the Museum of Natural History, which has been an important place for us in terms of raising children in New York. We spend a lot of time in New York’s museums.

Is it difficult to raise children in the city?

It’s actually very easy. One reason my wife and I wanted to move here from Los Angeles in 1998 is that we were tired of the commuting and segregated life of Los Angeles.

New York has everything that any child would be interested in. Our kids are now 10, 16 and 20. My oldest son, who is studying to be an ornithologist, learned how to be a bird specialist in Central Park since the age of seven and volunteers in the bird specimen lab at the Museum of Natural History. My other son rows for an urban crew team on the East River and is studying Mandarin. My 10-year-old daughter is active in piano and swimming and can walk to school and all of her after-school activities. By growing up in New York, they are learning to communicate in a multicultural society and how to be global citizens in a diverse community.

Central Park, New York City
Image courtesy Flickr user Gane

What do you do when you aren’t working?

I swim when I am in the city and bike when I am in the country.

I designed a passive solar house on 12 acres in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, about 100 miles north of New York City. It is a south-facing glass barn with 37 operable windows that allow me to tune the building based on the four seasons. The house is a composition of four sloped roofs organized around the hearth and is nested in an area of rolling hills adjacent to hundreds of acres protected by the Massachusetts Trustees of Reservations. The design saves 60 percent of energy costs during the year.

The house gives us a perfect balance of living an urban existence during the week and in relative isolation on weekends. It has the Internet but no TV. We listen to NPR, work in the garden, cook, and reconnect as a family after our hectic week in the city.

Are you involved in any community organizations?

I am on the board of openhousenewyork, which introduces the architecture of New York City to citizens. I am active with the Municipal Art Society, the Forum for Urban Design, the Architectural League the AIA New York and New York New Visions, which contributed to the plan for rebuilding Lower Manhattan after 9/11. I am hoping I will get involved in the rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I also am involved with my children’s schools and am a class parent in my daughter’s fifth-grade class.

How did you decide to be an architect?

As a college freshman, I was pursuing a pre-med degree and working at a cancer research center. I was in a sculpture class as an elective with freshman architecture students and was introduced to architecture as a profession for the first time and was hooked. It was good that I did, because I was the one who fainted in biology class when we were asked to draw our own blood. I didn’t have the stomach for it.

USA Today just published a pair of articles about green building that are critical of the USGBC and the LEED rating system.

As early adopters of LEED, we are big supporters of this rating system. Since the late 1990s, we have watched it trigger a remarkable transformation toward designing and building more environmentally responsible buildings. This includes contributing to a broad public awareness about the importance of sustainable design.

LEED has sparked the development of completely new industries, market opportunities and products that promote green building. It has aligned commercial and environmental interests, and its contributions to our economy have proven resilient during the recession.

We have seen LEED generate many verifiable positive performance outcomes in existing buildings, new construction, homes, interior fit-outs and neighborhoods. This includes reduced resource consumption, an increased bottom line, and improved health and welfare for occupants. These “triple bottom line” benefits for the environment, economy and people are what sustainability is all about. With the right team and client, we know this can be achieved at very little or no additional first costs and with significant long-term savings.

LEED is an optional rating system. One clear sign of its success is that some entities choose to adopt LEED as a way to set a baseline standard and then incentivize its use. The impact of the system on non-LEED buildings through the creation of best practices in sustainability is undeniable.

With the recent development of high-performance codes and standards such as the new International Green Construction Code, the industry is moving toward a codified approach to driving better performance in buildings. This is all for the good. The 20th-century standard practices for developing our built environment must change to align with the needs of our planet.

LEED can and must be improved of course. That’s what is happening now as part of the consensus-based development process,where  the proposed fourth version of the LEED rating system is currently out for its fifth round of public comment.

LEED is a powerful idea that has contributed to a sea change in our approach to the built environment. It has pushed us in the right direction. Let’s recognize that.

For well-informed reactions to the USA Today articles, I encourage you to read Nadav Malin’s post.

Greenbuild 2012, the world’s largest green building conference, is coming to San Francisco Nov. 14-16.

This year’s social media focus brings together technology and sustainability to advance the green movement. You can follow HOK’s activities on Twitter at @HOKNetwork. Be sure to also check out Greenbuild’s official Twitter feed – @Greenbuild – and conversation at #Greenbuild.

HOK’s sustainable design experts will be busy at Greenbuild, speaking at the conference and other related events. Read more below and visit the Greenbuild website to learn more about the conference and expo.

Project Haiti

Greenbuild sessions:

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 1 p.m.
Green Building Gets Social: Sustainability and Social Media
HOK’s Jodi Williams with Ron Reeves of Herman Miller and Hal Myers of CBRE
HOK events | Event website

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 3 p.m.
Project Haiti: A Sustainable Model for Rebuilding in Haiti
HOK’s Thomas Knittel with Roger Limoges of USGBC and Gina Duncan of Fondation Enfant Jesus
HOK events | Event website

Thursday, Nov. 15, 8 a.m.
Integrating Environmental Analysis into a BIM Workflow
HOK’s Amy Patel and Joyce Chan with Paul Stoller of Atelier Ten US
HOK events | Event website

The Old Mint

Pre-Greenbuild events:

Monday, Nov. 12, 3:35 p.m.
Green City 2012 (Greenbuild French delegation event)
HOK’s Mara Baum on water efficiency
HOK events | Event website

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 1 p.m.
Architecture for Humanity’s Design Like You Give a Damn: LIVE!
HOK’s Thomas Knittel on Project Haiti
HOK events | Event website

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2:20 p.m.
EPA Green Historic Preservation Initiative West Coast Symposium
HOK’s Paul Woolford and Zorana Bosnic on San Francisco’s Old Mint
HOK events | Event website

The “classic” Silicon Valley stretches from Palo Alto to south of San Jose, CA, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AlumRockViewSiliconValley_w.jpg

Our social media bonanza has roots in the original tech boom in Silicon Valley – named after silicon chip innovators – back in the 1970’s.  What is Silicon Valley exactly?  Although the name originally referred to a specific region emanating out from Stanford University and San Jose, its tech prowess has now spread throughout the region; San Jose’s Mercury News recently argued that “Silicon Valley” now includes five Bay Area counties.  For many of us, though, Silicon Valley is more about a mindset and an approach to business that’s become synonymous with high tech innovation.  It has remained in this area because, as I once learned in a city planning class, companies that demand a stream of employees with the tech sector’s specialized mindset and skillset tend to thrive when they flock together.   

HOK’s worked for many numerous tech companies over the years.  Autodesk is a personal favorite, not only because I use their products every day but also because they’re just down the street; the lobby space of their One Market St. office has some pretty cool toys and is LEED Platinum to boot. 

The LEED Platinum Autodesk lobby also wins the award for the coolest toys. Photo: David Wakely

This brings us to where we are today – a vibrant and slightly avant-garde-geeky community about to host The Biggest Greenbuild Ever.  I’m excited to be at the nexus of this tech + sustainability crowd as part of the Greenbuild 2012 Host Committee‘s social networking co-chair; we’re working with USGBC’s Greenbuild team to create the most networked show ever.  This emphasis on the collision between technology and sustainability is especially appropriate because many of our local tech companies are also leaders in green building.  Google, Adobe, SAP and Zynga were four of the first six to sign on to the California Best Buildings Challenge, and many others have substantial sustainability programs.  The California Best Buildings Challenge, a program by the USGBC Northern California Chapter, challenges building owners to reduce their energy, water and waste by 20% in two years.  The Clinton Global Initiative will partner with the USGBC; the Challenge is closely aligned with CGI’s focus on finding solutions to promote economic recovery.  

Whether you will be attending Greenbuild in person or from your couch, you can participate in the dialog by you can following @Greenbuild on Twitter, joining the LinkedIn group, liking our page on Facebook, and perusing Greenbuild pins on Pinterest.   See you there!

This blog entry is cross-posted on the USGBC Blog and the new USGBC Articles site.

“HOK is a firm often cited for making a difference. … HOK is recognized for breaking new ground with clear, practical and inspirational leadership.  HOK staff is admired for its compelling case studies, engaging thought leadership, and insights that lead to making wise decisions to benefit the planet’s future condition.”
James Cramer
Co-Chair, Design Futures Council
Founding Editor, DesignIntelligence

We owe much of our leadership status to our clients. It is our clients who bring their vision and ambition, their guts to pursue new ideas and innovative solutions; their open minds. In today’s economy no one wants to risk project investment on unproven technology or materials, so leadership in sustainability is always a balancing act of good, proven design methodology and new concepts. For example, we have learned that green buildings often do not perform up to their expectations when the occupants do not participate in the process of efficient operations. Engaging building occupants is a no-low capital investment with huge rewards. Sometimes a lower-tech building can achieve great things with the right level of participation.

At the KAPSARC project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

In addition, sometimes we’re able to leverage design tools to bring project costs down. In the DC Consolidated Forensic Lab project, using tools such as Revit and clash detection programs helped bring a very high performance building in under budget.

DC Consolidated Forensic Laboratory

We were able to include even more costly performance elements, such as the automated louver wall on the South façade, because we were able to bring the project in under budget. The Consolidated Forensic Lab will be certified at LEED Gold level.

Louver Wall at DC Consolidated Forensic Laboratory

Our design partners, the consulting engineers and specialty designers we work with, also bring a lot to the table. We appreciate it when all team members show up at the table with creative ideas and sustainable solutions.  For example, we have three projects at DC’s New York Avenue Metro Station, One, Two and Three Constitution Square.

   
Constitution Square I, II and III

One and Two are already LEED Platinum Certified and Three is well on its way. Our MEP consultant (GHT) suggested harvesting cooling coil condensate for flush water supply – a nearly constant source of thousands of gallons of clean water per day. These projects are able to meet nearly 100% of their annual flush water demand through condensate, saving the embodied energy in water treatment and conveyance as well as millions of gallons of potable water per year.

And we really owe our leadership to the people at HOK who bring their brilliance, creativity and diligence to our projects every day. We attract young professionals with a passion for sustainable design, and we cultivate sustainable design expertise in our long-tenured staff. I don’t care what any firm says – sustainable design is a constantly moving target with a bar being set ever higher. It takes every project team member on every project, every single day to make it all work. It doesn’t matter how embedded sustainability is in our culture, it still requires very hard work to make it successful in everything we do.

 
HOK Director of Science + Technology Bill Odell and Director of Sustainable Design Mary Ann Lazarus

And we are inspired to keep working as hard as we do by outstanding leaders within the firm and the industry: this year Bill Odell and Mary Ann Lazarus were also cited in DesignIntelligence as two of 20 North American leaders serving as role models on issues of sustainability.

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Learn more about HOK’s sustainability and sustainable consulting on the new HOK.com.

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