News
02.25.2011
100 LEED Certified Buildings
A Major Milestone in Sustainable Design
We have ended our seventy-fifth anniversary year with a major milestone in sustainable design, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of our 100th sustainable building. Our Victoria-based Dockside Green Phase Two Balance project marks our 100th LEED certified building and is tied for the highest scoring LEED building worldwide with its sister project, Dockside Green Phase One.
Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.
"Sustainable design is in our firm’s DNA and this milestone marks another step in our story of embedding sustainability into our culture while pushing the design boundaries to the next phase of innovation with regenerative design," said Phil Harrison, our president and chief executive officer. "We are dedicated to lead the industry by example, elevating sustainability issues and sharing best practices so the entire design community can progress."
Our firm was founded in 1935 on the belief that design has the power to transform lives and enhance society. Using an interdisciplinary approach, our designers have pushed design boundaries to create some of the world’s most innovative buildings, while taking care to share research and knowledge with the industry. With more LEED Accredited Professionals than any other design firm, we are recognized as a leader in the sustainable design movement.
The milestone of reaching 100 LEED certified buildings represents a significant portfolio of work ranging from hospitals and universities to multi-family residential buildings and retail spaces. Celebrating our seventy-fifth anniversary in 2010, we recognize our history of innovative designs and significant building achievements including:
- Dockside Green in Victoria, BC is the highest LEED score to date
- Great River Energy, in Maple Grove, MN is a LEED Platinum Building that is the first to combine Lake Source Geo-Exchange with Displacement Ventilation. Also it is one of a handful of projects with an urban wind turbine.
- Discovery Health Center – 1st LEED NC Certified ambulatory care facility in the country
- Arlington Free Clinic – 1st LEED CI Gold free clinic in the country
- Rush University Medical Center, Orthopedic Ambulatory Building – Largest LEED CS Gold healthcare building in the country
- First LEED Certified Target Retail Store
"Effective sustainable design is not achieved by simply including an energy efficiency component, but by infusing design strategies that consider resources, climate and functionality from the beginning; this is what we strive for in all our buildings," said Paula Vaughan Associate Principal, Co-Director of the Sustainable Design Initiative (SDI), an internal initiative to foster our sustainable culture. "This milestone not only allows us to reflect on our work over the past 75 years, but also inspires us to look ahead at what next for sustainable design and ensure we’re striving to meet the challenge."
Designing 100 LEED certified projects has been both challenging and stimulating for the design team. The experience has demonstrated that an integrated process is the key to a successful project. Specifically the team is focused on infusing sustainability into the whole process, rather than adding it on at the end. Additionally, our architects emphasize the need to push for market change in demanding cleaner products and more efficient equipment to ensure sustainability becomes the baseline for design rather than the stretch goal.
Beyond the Building
In addition to advancing innovative sustainable design practices, we are committed to supporting a diverse culture of sustainable design through applied research, education, public advocacy and outreach. In the spirit of collectively moving the industry, we have shared our research and developed public tools to help project teams infuse sustainability through the design process:
- The Precautionary List online database highlights healthy alternatives to materials that may be harmful for humans and the environment.
- The 2030e2 Estimating + Evaluation Tool helps project teams set energy goals for the 2030 Challenge in four basic energy areas: efficiency and conservation, on-site renewable energy, off-site renewable energy and green power.
- Launched in 2009, the Perkins+Will Research Journal is a semi-annual peer reviewed journal presenting practice-related research associated with buildings and their environments.
- We are a part of Public Architecture's 1% Solution, committing one percent of the firm's billable resources to support pro bono initiatives. With our firm's size, that is the equivalent of a 15-person firm working full-time to provide pro bono services to organizations who would otherwise not have such access each year.
