By: Johnny Hartsfield

It’s better late than never…..so we would like to share with you the work of CAST Architecture, a local Seattle firm who presented their new project, In-Freemont, at Northwest EcoBuilding Guild’s 10×10x10 event on September 25.  The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, an alliance of builders, designers, suppliers, homeowners, and partners concerned with ecological building in the Pacific Northwest, hosts the 10×10x10 event every year to introduce ten cutting-edge sustainable building projects in and around Seattle.

CAST Architecture’s project, In-Freemont, is a set of 5 BuiltGreen town homes finished this past spring just north of 36th in Fremont on Phinney Ave.  MAP THIS Project. 

In 2007, CAST recieved a Built Green grant in the multi-family category, in the hopes of pushing a project like this forward.  They were successful with the help of a client who was willing and excited to explore what could be done in terms of a high quality sustainably minded project.

Some of the features that make this project sustainably innovative are:

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Dubbed “the Sundial”, the Green Lighthouse is the first place competition entry that will soon become a shining new “beacon” for sustainable design and carbon neutral building.  Designed by Christensen & CO Arketekter A/S, this new facility for the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen uses its cylindrical shape and adjustable facade louvres to invite sunlight to twist throughout the building during the day.  Expected to be completed in 2009, the Green Lighthouse will incorporate solar energy, rainwater harvesting, natural ventilation systems and re-insulation.  The green clad building will also be finished just in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Engineered by COWI, this commercial building consists of 950 sq. meters over three levels with meeting facilities, student services and a faculty club.  The Green Lighthouse is in a class all its own for commercial buildings.

According to the architects, “the building, that seamlessly merges the fields of architecture, engineering and groundbreaking technologies into one exciting building, takes a holistic approach to architecture, light, healthy indoor environment and sustainability.”

GreenFab previously featured the work of Christensen & CO Arketekter A/S in Affordable, Energy Efficient Housing in Allerod.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Garrett and Dustin Moon of Portland, Oregon (although they are really from my home state of Washington) are building what promises to be one of the first Living Buildings in the country.  GreenFab highlighted their project, The Commons, back in April to share with you what very few people are attempting to do in this country when LEED is not enough. 

The Commons is “designed to reach beyond today’s highest green building standards and become the first U.S. home to meet the Living Building Challenge.  The Commons will generate all its own energy without fossil fuels, reclaim all its water, be free of unhealthy materials and be a place of beauty and community.”

Hot off the press, Garrett has just published a paper, Sustainable Architecture: an overview of equitable and efficient spaces that helps to identify and explain sustainable design processes and applications.  The document is half a survey of sustainability and its applications and half a case study of their project, The Commons.  This is a MUST READ!

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Here is our first installment in an ongoing series of case studies that GreenFab will be conducting to highlight truley sustainable projects. Each of these case studies will be organized around a set of nine Sustainable Design Systems that we have created to measure sustainability.

INTRODUCTION - Genzyme, one of the world’s foremost biotechnology companies, has just completed their world headquarters, Genzyme Center , in Cambridge, MA. This building was designed and constructed to be one of the most environmentally responsible office buildings ever built in the United States. To help guide these goals, Genzyme pursued the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System and achieved a PLATINUM rating under LEED 2.0.

Genzyme had sustainable goals across five broad areas: sustainable site planning, safeguarding water and water efficiency, energy efficiency and renewable energy, conservation of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. As for being employee-friendly, the space combines a collaborative work environment with a green-centric focus providing approximately 900 employees with an ideal work experience.

Continue reading to see Genzyme Center’s sustainable features organized within GreenFab’s Sustainable Design Systems .

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

GreenFab understands that sustainable design and development is difficult to define.  With respect to the great work done by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system and Cascadia’s Living Building Challenge, we have defined our own meaning of sustainable development as: development that makes strides towards creating functional sustainable design systems.

We have created a set of nine SUSTAINABLE DESIGN SYSTEMS that we will use in a series of case studies to promote and highlight what we believe are truly sustainable projects.  The projects in each case study will be measured against these systems to better understand design intent and function.  Our ultimate goal is to bring great projects to you and make sustainable design more understandable.

Our first case study is coming soon so continue reading to learn about how each sustainable design system is measured.  GreenFab also incorporates these measurement tools into each of our own development projects to better inform our process.

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