innovation
10 visions of a green future
Let the pollies squabble – the rest of us simply have to get on with making
the world a better place. Every year America’s top architectural body
nominates its choice of the most impressive and inspiring green projects.
Most people have been made aware of crucial environmental issues only relatively recently. So it sometimes comes as a surprise to them to learn that
“green” has been a priority of the design world for a long time.
Every year for the past 14 years the American Institute of
Architects, one of the world’s most venerable industry bodies,
selects its Top Ten Green Projects showcasing excellence
in sustainable design principles and reduced energy
consumption. In this way, the AIA shows its commitment to
green practices, materials, and techniques.
The Top Ten Green Projects program is the profession’s
best known recognition program for sustainable design
excellence, and it helps set the benchmark around the world.
The program celebrates projects that integrate architecture,
natural systems and technology.
They make a positive contribution to their communities,
improve comfort for building occupants and reduce
environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse
of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water
conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction
materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.
KrOON Hall, NEw HavEN
BUIldINg UsE: higher education, library
wOrK: new construction on a heritage site
sIzE: 6390 sqm
COmplETEd: January 2009
Kroon Hall, Yale University’s new home for its School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, aspires to be novel in
an Ivy League setting. It needed to be timeless on an iconic
campus, practical as a new home for an academic department
previously scattered throughout a collection of outdated
buildings, and explicitly sustainable in proving how a 100-year
design lifespan building can run on nearly 60 per cent fewer
resources. It includes offices for faculty, classrooms, a library
and study centre, an auditorium and a student lounge.
www.bcme.com.au
Environmental gains
The architects and the university wanted Kroon Hall to set new
standards. It had not only to be sustainable, it had to inspire
and encourage people to alter their lives and become more
sustainable citizens. This was accomplished through a mix
of active and passive design measures and visible, invisible
