by Brianna Crandall — February 10, 2016—The National Institute of Building Sciences Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) recognized the 2015 Beyond Green High-Performance Building and Community Awards winners at a recent luncheon sponsored by the Illuminating Engineering Society and held during Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fourth Annual Conference and Expo.
Honor Award
The Honor Award, the top prize in the High-Performance Buildings Category, went to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, for its sustainable renovation project.
Jim Whittaker, Beyond Green juror and president of Facilities Engineering Associates, commented:
This amazing, complex project set out to tackle multiple high-performance building attributes. In addition to addressing sustainability, the project naturally focused on historic preservation, safety and security, and accessibility. It certainly provides a glimpse into what is possible and, therefore, deserved an Honor Award.
The UN Capital Master plan called for a complete renovation of the UN Headquarters in New York City. The renovation had three major goals: to serve as an example for sustainable renovation projects; preserve the historic nature of the facility; and bring the facility up to current building code levels.
Originally built in 1950 as a highly innovative building with the newest technologies, the UN campus had aged and inefficient infrastructure; code compliance issues; and materials containing asbestos. The construction on the renovation began in 2008 and was completed in June 2015. At its height, this $2 billion renovation project employed more than 650 contractors and design / construction professionals.
The project achieved an overall Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the campus and LEED Platinum for the Secretariat tower. The campus is targeted to achieve 50 percent energy savings over existing energy use. Throughout the renovation, 50 percent of the campus remained occupied, requiring careful phasing of the new infrastructure.
Merit Awards
The 2015 Beyond Green Award Jury also recognized two recipients to receive Merit Awards.
Award of Merit in Category A: High-Performance Buildings: Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA
The 24,350-square-foot Center was conceived as a world-class building that provides both a home for administrative and classroom functions and a tool to further the institution’s sustainability mission.
The result of a unique, facilitated integrated design process, the CSL generates all its own energy; captures and treats all water on-site; and is the first and only project to attain the planet’s highest sustainable building certifications: Living Building Challenge, LEED Platinum, 4 Star Sustainable SITES (for landscaping) and WELL Platinum (building features that impact health and well-being).
The project transformed a dilapidated brownfield, once used as a fueling and supply station for Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works, into a 2.9-acre site hosting one of the world’s greenest buildings, a landscape of native plants and a slate of science education programs.
Award of Merit in Category C: High-Performance Initiatives: Efficient Homes Initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) and its utility partners
To accelerate market adoption of energy-efficient homes, NEEA established a program with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2012 that provides builders in the Northwest with regional marketing, recruitment and training support, and gives verifiers and raters the tools they need to verify and certify energy-efficient homes.
As part of the pilot program, more than 100 homes across Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington have been designed to be more energy-efficient and then monitored for performance to identify the most cost-effective ways to achieve maximum energy savings in residential new construction.
Pilot homes are at least 30% more energy-efficient than homes built to state-specific energy codes, with many exceeding that number. Thirteen months of monitoring provides a trove of data expected to push future building energy codes in the Northwest. The jury noted that although energy efficiency was the main goal, the initiative recognizes “the linked benefits for health, water use and sustainability.”
Case studies of this year’s winners will be featured on the WBDG Whole Building Design Guide Web site, as are those of winners from previous years.
