Founded in 2009 with an initial endowment of $1.9 million, HMC’s nonprofit Designing Futures Foundation (DFF) has donated about $230,000 in its three years of existence, including $105,000 in scholarships to California students. The grants help promising high schoolers with an interest in architecture, design, engineering, education, or healthcare pay for expenses like test preparation services, computers, and college entrance exam fees and tuition. The scholarships can be extended for up to five years of college.
Executive Director Adrienne Luce says the foundation serves as an extension of HMC’s social responsibility. The DFF’s Community Project initiative provides grants of up to $10,000 to HMC employees for projects for that benefit the communities in which they live and work.
For example, three HMC employees—Pablo La Roche, PhD, LEED AP, Sustainable Design Director; Eera Babtiwale, LEED AP BD+C, Environmental Analyst; and Sandy Kate, REFP, LEED AP, Associate Principal/Senior Education Facilities Planner—proposed a sustainability education program at McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica. The DFF sponsored nine workshops for 220 McKinley students in grades 3-5 over three days, providing 13½ hours of instruction on energy, water, and waste.
The DFF has funded scholarship programs at Ramona High School, a healthcare academy in Riverside, Calif., and at the Center for Advanced Research and Technology, in Fresno. The DFF also supports Bright Prospect, a college access and retention program in Pomona, and hosted a career day for students aspiring to become architects, engineers, or designers, topped off by a tour of the Ontario office.
Scott Plante, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Project Designer, won a $7,500 DFF grant to help restore the historic Micheltorena Steps in Silver Lake, the vintage 1920s-LA neighborhood where he lives. “The steps are on a main route to the school, and they’re in a state of disrepair,” says Plante, who serves on the Silver Lake Urban Design Committee. The $24,000 project, with donations from the DFF, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, and the Safe Routes to Schools program, plus a lighting upgrade by the local water and power utility, will be completed in two phases starting next June.
See the video about the DFF and the Micheltorena Steps project at: www.BDCnetwork.com/HMC/DFF.
At the university level, the Designing Futures Foundation has:
- Provided a $10,000 seed grant to help Cal Poly Pomona start a healthcare architecture studio, the first of its kind west of the Mississippi.
- Worked with Harvey Mudd College and the California Institute of the Arts on a project that uses online games and resources to foster greater environmental responsibility among college students.
- Funded an $18,000 water demonstration garden at Norco College, a two-year institution in Riverside.
- Sponsored research by HMC staff and consulting experts at UC San Diego’s Calit2 StarCAVE virtual reality environment on the effects of the built environment on building users. +
Related Stories
| Jul 11, 2013
Skanska exits U.S. Chamber of Commerce over LEED controversy
Skanska USA resigned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the Chamber’s decision to support the American High-Performance Buildings Coalition.
| Jul 11, 2013
DOE releases stricter energy efficiency standards for new federal buildings taking effect in 2014
The Energy Department released stricter energy efficiency standards this month for new federal buildings.
| Jul 11, 2013
Pennsylvania legislators work on bill to update demolition codes following fatal building collapse
Pennsylvania lawmakers are working on a bill to update demolition codes, in the wake of a fatal building collapse in Philadelphia in June.
| Jul 11, 2013
Lawsuit challenges modular apartment project in New York City
A plan to build pre-fab apartment buildings at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, N.Y., has been challenged by a lawsuit filed by the Plumbing Foundation in Manhattan Supreme Court.
| Jul 10, 2013
SmithGroupJJR hires Don Posson as Co-director of Sustainable Design
SmithGroupJJR has hired veteran mechanical engineer Don Posson, PE, CCP, CPD, LEED AP, as the firm’s co-director of sustainable design.
| Jul 10, 2013
World's best new skyscrapers [slideshow]
The Bow in Calgary and CCTV Headquarters in Beijing are among the world's best new high-rise projects, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jul 10, 2013
TED talk: Architect Michael Green on why we should build tomorrow's skyscrapers out of wood
In a newly posted TED talk, wood skyscraper expert Michael Green makes the case for building the next-generation of mid- and high-rise buildings out of wood.
| Jul 9, 2013
Where are they now? 40 Under 40 alumni make their mark in D.C.
Every month we’ll be touching base with past 40 Under 40 honorees to see what’s been happening in their professional and personal lives since winning the award. This month, we feature two outstanding professionals: HKS's Shannon Kraus and Roger Chang from Westlake Reed Leskosky.
| Jul 9, 2013
AISC releases Design Guide on Blast Resistant Structures
Design professionals now have a valuable new resource on blast resistant structures with AISC Design Guide No. 26, Design of Blast Resistant Structures.
High-rise Construction | Jul 9, 2013
5 innovations in high-rise building design
KONE's carbon-fiber hoisting technology and the Broad Group's prefab construction process are among the breakthroughs named 2013 Innovation Award winners by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
