August 5, 2010
International design firm Cuningham Group Architecture, just announced that its St. Jerome Parish Hall remodeling project has achieved LEED® Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). St. Jerome Parish Hall is the first project in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to become LEED® certified. It was certified Silver per the USBGC “New Construction and Major Renovation” Category, Version 2.2. THe Parish made a commitment to create a “green” hall within the remodeling project, and sustainable goals were in place from the outset as Cuningham Group, Stonemark Construction Management and the client collaborated on the design. Features include innovative mechanical system controls; new skylights to boost and equalize ambient lighting in the gym; water-conserving restroom fixtures; new glazing; new lighting and lighting control systems; reused or selected materials with significant recycled content; and better metering of electrical power.
“One of the fundamental tenants of our practice is that we have a responsibility to Read More
September 28, 2009
In the Architect’s Newspaper – the bicoastal publication and blog – California Editor Sam Lubell has profiled a sustainable redevelopment of a charter school in Los Angeles. The Watt’s Learning Center serves about 240 elementary students in the heart of Watts. Its design, by Cuningham Group Architecture (CGA), offers low-tech, high-achieving green components: north-south orientation, a white roof to minimize heat gain, operable windows for cross-ventilation, low-emitting materials, and a solar water-heating system. Perhaps just as importantly, the school serves as “beacon of hope” for the surrounding community by elevating scholastic values and offering a place for early-morning to late-afternoon learning. The school’s literal “beacon” is a two-story elevator tower with large LED lights “that can be programmed to project any color. For instance, said Cuningham Group principal John Quiter, if the Lakers win, they can turn on the team’s purple and gold, or they can project a rainbow…. The tower has been planted with ivy for a touch of more traditional academic gravitas.”
August 25, 2009
Finally. People are drinking less bottled water. Nestle recently reported nearly a 5 percent drop in sales of Poland Spring, Perrier, S. Pellegrino, and Deer Park. Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coke’s Dasani had weakening sales as well. It’s about time, according to Boston Globe’s Derrick Z. Jackson. He reminds us: not only is most bottled water straight from municipal taps, but “the energy costs of delivering bottled water to a consumer in Los Angeles were 1,100 to 2,000 times more than the energy cost of tap water, depending on how far away the filled bottles traveled.” Add to this wasted energy, the pure waste of bottles themselves: three-quarters of water bottles end up in landfills.
Also today, Daily Finance riffs of a recent Mother Jones article about Fiji Water. This company, apparently, has cozied up to the island of Fiji’s military dictatorship in its efforts to Read More
August 19, 2009
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released news on how the Federal Stimulus Act can green the economy and school buildings at once. “Students gain directly from more comfortable environments because they improve learning outcomes,” says Tim Dufault, chair of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education and president of Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A. (as quoted in Reuters news service and green websites such as Matter Network).
Dufault points to studies showing that better lighting, ventilation and indoor air-quality in schools contribute to higher student achievement. Of course, the economy is choking funds to school districts across the country. But the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February, allocated $53.6 billion to school modernization. Now’s your chance, districts.
Pictured: The Watts Learning Center, sustainably designed by Cuningham Group Architecture.
August 6, 2009
Someone had to do it. But did it have to be Wal-Mart? That is, create a sustainability index measuring the environmental friendliness of consumer products. According to Inhabitat, “Wal-Mart is working with the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University to begin a Sustainability Consortium, which will provide the academic research to back up their efforts.” Mega brands such as Proctor & Gamble have been asked to join the consortium of groups participating in the rating system, as have competing retailers such as Target. The idea is pressure brands to measure their environmental impact, in the same way Wal-Mart already pressures brands to reduce prices if they want to get sold by the world’s most powerful retailer. According to Slate magazine, “Wal-Mart plans to use a tool known as Read More
July 7, 2009
In February, Best Buy announced that it would be selling a range of electric vehicles (EVs). And this week the Brammo Enertia, a much-hyped electric urban commuter bike, hit a Best Buy store in Portland, Oregon, and will expand to other locations nationwide soon. The $11,995 Enertia is part of a growing push by the store to move into electric vehicle sales. While Best Buy has been selling eight models of electric bikes, scooters, and Segways at 21 West Coast stores since May, the Enertia is the premier model on the store’s line of EVs. Best Buy has invested $10 million in Brammo and is training in-store “Geek Squad” members to service the bikes. Read More
June 25, 2009
In the current issue of Fast Company, acclaimed writer Anya Kamenetz argues that local, renewable power-windmills and solar panels on every roof-offers a cheaper, faster, and more effective way to update our energy system. This contrasts with environmental leaders such as Al Gore and politicians such as Senator Harry Reid, who call for: an “electric superhighway” (like the Internet’s information superhighway) as a top national priority. Read More
June 17, 2009
Continuing its thought-leadership in environmentally responsible marketing, RPR has launched The Green Sheet, an interactive blog offering news, updates and analysis on eco-friendly marketing tactics, business solutions and civic interaction. The Green Sheet complements The Hot Sheet, RPR’s popular creative marketing and design blog, as well as the agency’s presence on social networking site http://twitter.com/PaolucciCommArts. Read More
June 3, 2009
What do you and Former President Bill Clinton have in common? Well, for starters, you probably both enjoy saving the planet and saving money. For years environmentalists and developers have been telling us that the two can go hand-in-hand, but price tags have shown that’s just not the case. Until now. Recent reports in The New York Times Magazine and Los Angeles’ Downtown News shed new light on how our 42nd President and everyday Angelenos are turning green… into green. Read More
May 13, 2009
Among the hot topics at this week’s Urban Land Institute “Developing Green” conference in Los Angeles was a forum on “Green Neighborhoods: A Cost-Benefit Analysis.” Far-sighted organizations along with developers grasp that real sustainable design involves regional and neighborhood design just as much as building design. The U.S. Green Building Council, for example, which already offers LEED ratings (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for buildings, is now unveiling the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system. It integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. The project is a collaboration among U.S. Green Building Council, Congress for the New Urbanism and Natural Resources Defense Council. It will assign ratings to masterplans or other large-scale developments that are: close to town and city centers, have good transit access, are urban infill sites, are previously developed sites, or are adjacent to existing development.
Also participating was the Sustainable Sites Initiative. This group is establishing voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for Read More
