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The new Winthrop Center in Boston by Handel Architects has just been certified by the Passive House Institute (PHI) as the largest Passive House office design in the world, according to an announcement made Friday by its developer Millennium Partners. Inaugurated in the spring after a... View full entry
A group of 49 arts institutions has been awarded a total of $3 million in clean energy grants as part of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation’s Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI), now in its second year. The Initiative is part of a larger $10 million effort being developed along with RMI and... View full entry
On the subject of architecture and construction’s contribution to climate change, our existing building stock is coming under increasing scrutiny. While the United Kingdom recently announced a review into embodied carbon in buildings, thanks in part to the Architect Journal’s RetroFirst... View full entry
The recently completed Bolueta high rise by VArquitectos is now the tallest reaching Passive House building in the world. Located in Bilbao, Spain, the project includes an adjacent 9-story building with 63 apartments dedicated for social housing. Bolueta by VArquitectos, located in Bilbao... View full entry
Studio Gang reveals a new, 400-foot tall residential tower called "MIRA" for San Francisco's Transbay neighborhood. The building features classic bay windows staggered in a twisting design around the structure. "MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Studio... View full entry
Ahead of the new academic year, Dickinson College has opened a new $19 million residence hall that will house 130 students.
The High Street Residence Hall, the Carlisle liberal arts college's first new residence hall since 1973, is part of a $46 million campus investment plan that began in 2012. Officials said demand for on-campus housing exceeded available space, prompting the start of construction on the new residence hall last year.
— cpbj.com
Deborah Berke Partners' new dormitory for Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA is now open for the upcoming academic school year. Residence Hall at Dickson College by Deborah Berke Partners, located in Carlisle, PA. © Deborah Berke Partners.The 40,500 square foot building is currently targeted to... View full entry
For a brief period from 2011 until 2012 Renzo Piano’s 309.7m London skyscraper, The Shard, was the tallest in Europe. However, it has since been dwarfed by three new buildings in Moscow, and, this summer, the title has shifted to Moscow’s second city, St Petersburg, as one of Russia’s largest companies plans its relocation. — phaidon.com
The Lakhta Center, designed by British firm RMJM, is set to be Europe's new tallest skyscraper. The nearly completed supertall, located on St. Petersburg's coast, will reach approximately 1,515 feet, which is about 50% taller than The Shard in London. The building will serve as the... View full entry
In January, tenants will move into a six-storey Vancouver apartment building designed to be so energy efficient, you could heat each bedroom with a 100-watt light bulb. [...] Others are under construction and many more are at the rezoning stage, including a residence that will house 750 students at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus and two 40-plus highrise towers in Vancouver that aim be the tallest passive house buildings in the world. — cbc.ca
Until now most passive houses have been single-family homes, but Canada is changing that. With several projects underway, architects are tackling the issues of scaling up this sustainable technology for larger buildings. Without using furnaces and air conditioners, these green buildings are... View full entry
How can you transform a not particularly sustainable 1940s building into a leading example of pioneering environmental design? First, get the Harvard GSD Center for Green Building and Cities team focused on green building techniques, and secondly, hire Snøhetta. The result? This press release... View full entry
You know how you’re supposed to turn out the lights when you leave a room to save energy? New York City Council member Donovan Richards wants the owners of many of the city’s office buildings to start doing the same—on a much bigger scale.
Richards [...] has introduced a bill that would prohibit owners of approximately 40,000 New York commercial buildings from illuminating the interiors or exteriors of their structures once workers have gone home for the night.
— citylab.com
On Aug. 11, the Illawarra Flame House of Team UOW Australia (University of Wollongong and TAFE Illawarra Institute) won the 2013 Solar Decathlon China. Co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Administration China, the competition challenged university teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy-efficient, and stylish. Participants included 22 teams from 35 universities, with students of over 35 nationalities in 13 countries. — bustler.net
Frank Tjepkema of Dutch design studio Tjep. has designed an ecologically friendly getaway home to be self-sufficient in remote areas.
Called Isolée, the small house embraces and uses technology to be as energy efficient as possible.
— DesignBuild Source
Designers for The Wave, Muscat, were tasked with the challenge of engineering a luxury, mixed-use development stretching along six kilometres of natural beach coastline between Al-Athaiba and Al-Mawelah while ensuring it was protected as much as possible from the Sea of Oman. — DesignBuild Source
Holistic sustainability is a notion too often forgotten in a global industry heavily focused delivering on green ideals. While the notion of green building is an umbrella under which all things related to environmentally responsible construction and design efforts are categorized, the green sector actually falls under the broad-reaching holistic sustainability model. — DesignBuild Source Canada
