Green Buildings Advisor in White House Urged

The AIA has offered to assist President Obama in advancing his goals of promoting green buildings and focusing on the needs of urban areas.

As a key player in the last “Greening of the White House” initiative in the 1990s, the AIA has also recommended making 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. an international model of energy efficiency. Specific proposals include:

Due to the central role that buildings play in securing energy independence, it is vital that a high-level advisor on green buildings be a part of the White House team to coordinate executive branch activities and to promote these issues to the public.

To address our nation’s energy and infrastructure challenges, the AIA has offered to assist in the development of a White House Office of Urban Policy, something Obama proposed during the campaign.

Following on its efforts to make federal buildings less reliant on fossil fuels, the AIA has offered to work with the administration to develop plans to make the White House an international model of energy efficiency.

Chicago Architecture Group Announces Five Patron Winners

Five winners of the Chicago Architecture Foundation fifth annual Patron of the Year awards were recently announced:

• Chicago Greenworks LLC for Christy Webber Landscapes.
• Serta International for Serta International Center.
• Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies for the new Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.
• The University of Chicago for the South Campus Chiller Plant.
• Chicago Housing Authority and Holsten Real Estate Development Corp. for Hilliard Towers Apartments.

Developed to honor leaders who commission, finance and execute significant architecture in the Chicago area, the Patron of the Year winners are selected each year by a jury of honored architects and business professionals from the Chicago area.

The 2008 jury, led by architect Stanley Tigerman, was comprised of prominent members of Chicago’s architecture, philanthropic and business communities including Donna Robertson, dean of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology; Greg Gerber, president of the John Buck Foundation; and Michael McCaskey, president of the Chicago Bears Football Club.

Cool Tool Takes Aim at Carbon Emissions

Talk about something cool.

The AIA Chicago Committee on the Environment recently introduced its Cool Tool, a Chicago-centric sustainability guide on the Web for building owners, at the World Sustainable Building Conference in Australia.

The guild offers ideas that building owners can take to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions for existing or newly built structures. The steps stem from COTE’s discussions with the city of Chicago’s Department of Environment on mitigating the Earth’s climate changes. The ideas were developed to adapt to the 2030 Challenge initiative to develop strategies specific to the Chicago Region and Midwest climate.

The Cool Tool is reportedly one of the first region-specific carbon reduction tools of its kind.

To learn more about AIA COTE and the Cool Tool, visit www.aiachicago.org/cote.asp on the Internet.

The presenters at the sustainability conference were architect Steven Kismohr of the Chicago office of Detroit-based Harley Ellis Devereaux and architect Vuk Vujovic of Waukegan-based Legat Architects. There were more than 3,000 attendees from 80 countries attending.

Battle Stations 21 Honored as Best 2008 Design-Build Project

The U.S. Navy’s high-tech simulator of shipboard emergencies to test recruits at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes recently won a national award for construction project excellence.

Battle Stations 21’s USS Trayer, a lifelike mockup of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and its surrounding 157,000-sq-ft building, was recognized by the Design-Build Institute of America as the best overall design-build project in the U.S. for 2008. The project was cited for interdisciplinary teamwork, innovation and problem-solving. The project won best overall among the 29 winners in 13 categories.

The awards recognize public and private construction projects that successfully demonstrate design-build principles, including collaboration, integration and finding unique solutions for project challenges.

The Trayer, its support systems and its surrounding building took more than three years of coordination between construction and contracting agent Naval Facilities Engineering Command, the simulation and training experts at Naval Air Systems Command and Chicago-based James McHugh Construction Co., the contractor.

In addition to conventional building requirements, Battle Stations 21 also has to support special effects technology from the theme park industry to simulate shipboard scenarios, including fire, flooding and mass casualties.

Architecture Fantasy Camp Offered

The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust in Oak Park is presenting a fantasy camp for architecture enthusiasts.

In the drafting room of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Studio, participants from work with accomplished architects to plan and design a structure of their own creation. No architecture experience is necessary, as the designers will help participants create a new addition to their home, remodel their kitchen and design a picturesque dream home.

Participants do not need any architectural background. Attendees also enjoy tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Wright’s world-renowned Unity Temple and a special behind-the-scenes tour of Wright’s Robie House.