5 California Projects make AIA Top Ten Green Projects

EARTH DAY 2003: Enviromentally Responsible Architecture and Design

The AIA’s Committee on the Environment Identifies Top Ten Green Projects

source: AIA website press release 2003.4.22

WASHINGTON, DC- April 22, 2003 - In recognition of Earth Day 2003, The American
Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected 10
examples of architectural and "green" design solutions that protect and enhance the environment.
The top ten projects will be honored on May 1st during a presentation at the National
Building Museum, by COTE Chair Daniel Williams, FAIA, and then again on May 9th
at the AIA National Convention and Design Expo in San Diego, Calif.

The selected projects address significant environmental challenges with designs
that integrate architecture, technology, and natural systems. The top ten
projects make a positive contribution to their community, improve comfort for
building occupants, and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such
as: reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact site
development, energy and water conservation, use of "green" construction
materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.

The AIA's Committee on the Environment represents more than 5300 AIA
members committed to making sustainable design integral to the practice of
architecture. The sixth annual AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects initiative was
developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental
Building News magazine.

The Jury selected projects that cover a broad spectrum of project types.
Facilities include both new construction and renovation of office, retail,
residential, academic, and institutional facilities. The panel of jurors included:
Peter Bohlin, FAIA, of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, of Ross
Barney + Jankowsky; Drury Crawley, AIA, U.S. Department of Energy; Jacqueline
Rose, AIA, Environmental Protection Agency; and Douglas Kelbaugh, FAIA,
University of Michigan.

The jury was impressed by the range of building types and sizes among the
applicants. "The variety we saw was encouraging. The profession is clearly
beginning to address sustainability in increasingly sophisticated and effective
design solutions. Whether reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate
climate change, peak energy loads to lessen demand on the power grid, using
stormwater on site to eliminate run-off, conserving building water, or preserving
wetlands, these buildings also promise to enhance the level of comfort and
amenity for the people who inhabit them. In future years, the jury recommends
broadening the competition scope to include an additional open category of
submissions such as research, best practices, urban design and land use
studies, and educational resources."

The 2003 [California 5] AIA Top Ten Green Projects (listed in alphabetical order):

(NOTE: Images, case studies, details, and technical information is
available for The Top Ten Green projects by following the link provided with each
description below)

Argonne Child Development Center
450 Architects
San Francisco, CA

Strong community advocacy pushed the design of the Argonne Child
Development Center to be a green building in its solar performance and
materials selections, but even more to be a sheltering and celebratory spot for
their community garden and their children.

This building has no mechanical cooling and a minimal heating system, making
simple but effective use of San Francisco's mild climate. Its single-room, deeply
shaded east-west solar orientation allows for plenty of shade and ventilation in
summer and passive gains in winter. Its classrooms can be used almost
year-round without artificial lighting, and the building's solar-electric system
generates 25% of the remaining energy load. As San Francisco's first
solar-powered school, it also serves as a model and research tool for the whole
school district.

The center fits into a dense yet low-rise residential neighborhood with an
efficient site plan that creates a wide array of useful outdoor spaces. The
street-facing administration wing and perpendicular classroom wing enclose a
sheltered yet open play area that takes in the southern sun. Sloping down to
the West, the building keeps its shadows off the community's planting beds, but
extends reading nooks so students can absorb the sights and smells of the
garden.

Jury Comments: "The Argonne Child Development Center is a simple,
straightforward, elemental building that responds to the community's request
for a green building. The coupling of the skylights and the photovoltaic panels,
as well as the building and site water conservation strategies, are indicative of
an economy of means throughout the project."

Colorado Court
Pugh Scarpa Kodama
Santa Monica, Calif.

The 44-unit five-story building is the first affordable housing project in the United
States to be 100% energy neutral. It has won various national awards in 2003
including, an Honor Award for Architecture, and Housing PIA Award. This project
provides an excellent model of sustainable development in an urban
environment and promotes diversity through strategically placed affordable
housing.

Innovative sustainable-energy technologies developed for Colorado Court
include a natural gas-powered turbine/heat recovery system that generates the
base electrical load and services the building's hot water needs as well. A solar
electric panel system integrated into the facade and roof supplies most of the
peak-load energy demand. This unique co-generation system converts utility
natural gas to electricity in order to meet the building's power needs. This same
system also captures and uses waste heat to produce hot water and space
heating for the residents throughout the year. The unused energy from these
passive solar panels is returned to the grid during daytime hours and retrieved
from the grid at night as needed. The "green electricity" produced at the building
site releases no pollutants into the environment. Colorado Court's energy
conservation systems have been designed to pay for themselves in less than
ten years. Annual savings in electricity and natural gas exceed $6,000. The
building also collects rainwater runoff from the entire city block behind the
property and funnels it into a series of underground chambers. The water slowly
percolates back into the soil, which filters the pollutants from the water while
preventing contaminated water from spilling into Santa Monica Bay. Prevailing
breezes cool the building, which has no air conditioning.

Jury Comments: "Colorado Court incorporates a comprehensive array of
offensive and defensive energy and environmental strategies in a relatively high
density project in an urban setting. The PV panels were seamlessly integrated
into the architecture, which demonstrated extraordinary design sophistication,
especially for an affordable housing project."

Hidden Villa Hostel & Summer Camp (Los Altos Hills, Calif.)
Arkin Tilt Architects
Albany, Calif.

Hidden Villa is an environmental education foundation sited on a bucolic farm
and wilderness preserve in the coastal hills between San Francisco and San
Jose. For the past 75 years, the foundation has engaged visitors in innovative,
hands-on outdoor education programs, including a demonstration organic farm,
a summer camp, and a youth hostel since 1937 (the oldest hostel west of the
Mississippi). The new hostel facility brings the playful, educative,
community-oriented spirit of Hidden Villa to structures that harmonize with the
site's agrarian precedent.

Constrained in a narrow canyon by the sacred "Climbing Tree" to the west and
existing cabins to the east, the new structures hug the northern slope,
maximizing winter solar exposure and re-establishing the visual connection
up-canyon through a series of loosely defined courtyards.

The dining hall--the literal and figurative heart of both programs--can expand
into the screen porch via large bi-fold doors that incorporate distinctive windows
and doors reused from the original hostel. A large dormer captures low winter
sun while natural ventilation, concrete floors, and a rammed-earth wall along
the north mediate extreme temperatures as well as heat from the kitchen. A
ground-source geothermal heat pump provides heat to the radiant-floor system
as well as hot water for the facility.

Riding a delicate balance between the simplicity of a barn, the sophistication of
careful energy modeling, and a tumble of ad-hoc shacks that typify summer
camps, the visitors and staff alike express delight with the new facility. A
threshold between the natural and built environment, the facility demonstrates
first-hand how one's living affects nature: the buildings have become part of the
educational experience at Hidden Villa.

Jury Comments: "This dining hall, kitchen, and staff quarters serves as the new
center for an existing assemblage of small camp buildings in a secluded, Bay
area wilderness farm. The modest syntax of recycled and sustainably harvested
wood incorporates a number of low-tech strategies that provide rustic comforts
while moderating summer heat; the site water strategies reduce consumption
and run-off.

San Mateo County Sheriff's Forensic Laboratory and Coroner's Office
Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum
San Francisco, Calif.

The San Mateo County Forensic Laboratory and Coroner's Office is a highly
secure and technologically innovative laboratory facility that was designed to
provide a superior workplace, flexibility to accommodate changing needs over
time, and advanced resource efficiency. The facility houses several key public
safety and essential public service functions, including: 911 dispatch, emergency
operations center, sheriff's training facility, forensics laboratory and the
coroner's office. The facility combines the various agencies into one 'essential'
structure that must remain functional after a major earthquake thereby
minimizing the risk of disruption of services.

The orientation of the building, large roof overhangs, north-facing clerestory
windows and canted windows on the southwest reduce glare while maximizing
daylight. Energy usage has been reduced by over 50% relative to the stringent
California title 24 energy requirements, and renewable energy systems supply
all non-HVAC energy requirements.

One particularly impressive initiative has been the incorporation of 26,000
square feet of rooftop mounted photovoltaic panels, which will produce enough
power to accommodate all of the building's non-HVAC electrical requirements.
The photovoltaic roof generates over 180 kW of electricity, which is over half of
the summertime peak load. During off-peak daylight hours this facility exports
energy to other buildings in San Mateo County. With energy cost savings
estimated at about $70,000 per year, the installation has a simple payback
period of about 10 years.

Jury Comments: "The San Mateo County Forensics Laboratory is a tour-de-force
in photovoltaic power generation which meets more than half of the peak
summer peak electrical load, while water conservation strategies for site and
building reduce water use by over 40%. This building devotes its entire, 26,000
square foot roof area to the harvesting of sunlight, meeting more than 28% of
total energy demands."

Wine Creek Road Residence
Siegel & Strain Architects
Emeryville, Calif.

This modest family retreat in northern California was conceived of as a single
gable that spans enclosed living and sleeping areas separated by an open
breezeway or "dogtrot." The form and construction of the house reflects the
spirit of local vernacular buildings, taking maximum advantage of the site and
climate to make the house comfortable while minimizing energy use and
environmental impacts.

The chief strategy for saving energy was to keep the building cool during the
long, hot summers without mechanical cooling. This was accomplished by
employing natural ventilation, thermal mass and superior insulation. The thin
building section, the dogtrot, and placement of windows all maximize
opportunities for natural ventilation. The interior plaster walls and concrete floor
provide enough thermal mass to minimize temperature swings, and integrate
well with the radiant heating system. By opening the windows at night, the
house remains cool through the hottest part of the day.

A high efficiency water heater provides radiant floor heating. These measures
resulted in a design that exceeds California's strict energy efficiency standards
by 29% and combine to keep the building cool except for the hottest hours of
the hottest days. The owners chose high efficiency, low-water use appliances.

Jury Comments: This modest home in northern California is a basic, high
performance, low-tech building in the spirit of traditional Japanese residential
architecture. This simple retreat uses natural ventilation rather than mechanical
cooling, thermal mass, radiant floor heating, straw bale construction, and onsite
management of almost all storm water.

About The American Institute of Architects
Since 1857, the AIA has represented the professional interests of America's
architects. As AIA members, more than 70,000 licensed architects and allied
professionals express their commitment to excellence in design and livability in
our nation's buildings and cities. Members adhere to a code of ethics and
professional conduct that assures the client, the public, and colleagues of an
AIA-member architect's dedication to the highest standards in professional
practice.

Note to editors: For additional background information or images of the winning
projects, contact Cara Battaglini in the AIA's media relations office,
202-626-7462, email carab@aia.org.