Minneapolis public works facility earns LEED Platinum

The Hiawatha Public Works Facility in Minneapolis received LEED Platinum certification, making it the state’s greenest government building.

June 1, 2011

The Hiawatha Public Works Facility in Minneapolis received LEED Platinum certification, making it the state’s greenest government building. Designed by local firm RSP Architects, the 200-person facility has 32,000 sf of office space and 26,000 sf of shop and interior storage space. The complex also has more than 250,000 sf of yard space for multiple public works divisions, including maintenance, paving construction, sewer maintenance, sewer construction, bridge maintenance, and central stores. The facility occupies the site of 18 existing city buildings—all but two of which were removed; 90% of demolition material was recycled. The new building’s footprint is 43% smaller than the combined footprint of the previous buildings.

Thanks to a $45 million federal appropriation to the Smithsonian Institution, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., has broken ground on what is expected to be one of the most energy-efficient laboratories in the country. The 69,000-sf lab is targeting LEED Gold and is expected to use 37% less energy and emit 37% less carbon dioxide than a similar building.

| May 17, 2011

Sustainability tops the syllabus at net-zero energy school in Texas

Texas-based firm Corgan designed the 152,200-sf Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, with the goal of creating the largest net-zero educational facility in the nation, and the first in the state. The facility is expected to use 50% less energy than a standard school.

| May 17, 2011

Gilbane partners with Steel Orca on ultra-green data center

Gilbane, along with Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, has been selected to partner with Steel Orca to design and build a 300,000-sf data center in Bucks County, Pa., that will be powered entirely through renewable energy sources--gas, solar, fuel cells, wind and geo-thermal. Completion is scheduled for 2013.

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Minneapolis public works facility earns LEED Platinum

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