This piece of art is used instead of barbed wire to top a fence around a steam plant.

I toured the construction in 2008 of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana new Business Building by Cesar Pelli (Alumnus of U of IL.) and his son Ralph Pelli. We got a chance to meet Ralph at his office in NY as a studio trip. We heard about the amazing passive solar features with this interior glass courtyard and the layering of the brick pre-fabricated street-side facade elements. The attention to detail was great to see first hand on the mock-up and in the office in ARUP energy models. I hope this will turn out to be a great jewel on the campus!

For Earth Day I was a docent at the Chico Beach Cottages development in Silverdale, WA designed by Wenzlau Architects and developed by The Cottage Company. These more affordable green homes were on the green home building tour all Earth Day weekend. They are Built Green certified and very low energy, low VOC, innovative, and very livable. There is radiant floor heat and fireplace heat. High U-Value windows and on demand water heaters.The simple designs and beautiful location really go well together. Home tour was organized by the NW Eco-Building Guild Puget sound chapters. I am affiliated with the Kitsap Chapter.

This will be a two part posting of Earth Day oriented architecture I have recently toured. The first is the Bullitt Foundation commercial low-rise building located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, WA by Miller|Hull architects. This building is a LIVING BUILDING Challenge project which means it has pretty much every conceivable sustainable requirement put upon it. The building is alive in the sense that the systems used to heat, ventilate, power, and construct are being pushed towards more natural means. Here is the rundown. The building will release waste in the form of compost and treat ALL solids from toilets and treat ALL rainwater and black water before releasing it into the city sewer. WA state and most states do not allow the reuse of this water, even if it is cleaner than any city water on earth. It will create its own heat with the aid of the earth’s natural temperature through 26 geothermal wells dug 400' deep, radiant floors, and natural ventilation elements automated operable window curtain wall system and the HVAC system. The lighting is mostly based on natural light but will have traditional lighting methods, unless the building is asleep of course, louvers on the exterior will track the sun's path to maximize light penetration. Additionally, it is zero energy with over 500 PV panels as a canopy over the roof. Lastly, all floors past floor three are heavy timber construction of local harvested industrial grade FSC certified wood. This all will be carbon neutral somehow too. Tenants have ‘green leases’ with the owner to ensure they use their energy and toilets appropriately to ensure a happy living building. More shots hopefully to come upon completion stay tuned!!