green design

green design

Columbia County's Porte-Cottom House Wins Best in Green Building Competition

Wed

Nov

New York House magazine’s first annual Best in Green Building Competition has been ongoing here in 2008 in no small part due to the efforts of gbNYC’s Paul McGinniss, who also served on the panel of judges that whittled the competition’s entries down to 12 back in September. To be eligible, homes had to be single-family and located in one of the magazine’s upstate editorial coverage areas (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, etc. counties) and built between 2000 and 2006. The purpose of the competition? Simply to identify “exemplary” green residential projects and promote sustainable design. The judges used criteria from the USGBC’s LEED for Homes system during their review, but a LEED application was not a prerequisite in order to qualify.

Clean Energy to Power Madagascar Exhibition at Bronx Zoo Lion House

Fri

Jun

by Stephen Del Percio

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The New York Power Authority announced yesterday that it will install a fuel cell at the FXFOWLE-designed Lion House at the Bronx Zoo. The installation will offset 200 kilowatts of electrical demand at the landmarked, Beaux-Arts Lion House, which is on track for a LEED Gold rating from USGBC. The project broke ground back in 2006 and is part of a larger renovation of the Zoo's Astor Court; the Lion House itself has remained vacant since the lions were moved outdoors almost twenty years ago.

2008 Portland Cement Association “Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World” Student Design Competition

Mon

Jan

by Stephen Del Percio

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The Third Annual Portland Cement Association (“PCA”) Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World Student Design Competition opened for registration in early December and will remain available for both domestic and international students to enter through February 8. The purpose of the competition is to encourage students to “investigate innovative uses of Portland cement-based material to achieve sustainable design objectives.” This year’s competition gives students a choice from two different concepts. The first asks for designs for an environmentally responsible recycling center, while the second seeks designs for “a single element of a building that provides a sustainable solution to real-world environmental challenges.” The competition is not restricted by site or building use, so students will have a great deal of flexibility in crafting their designs.

Last year’s competition winner was Henry Miller of Troy, New York-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, whose submission addressed two problems of local interest in neighboring Albany.