Certified Case Studies

Smith College’s Bechtel Environmental Classroom in Whately, Massachusetts is a new, 2,500 S.F. single-story wood-framed classroom building, acting as a field station for a 233-acre forest and pasture property. For the past 60 years the property has accommodated an astronomical observatory. Recently, Smith College declared its intention to open the pastoral setting to class activity,…

The Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) is a multi-disciplinary organization that brings together a wide range of researchers to holistically address the challenges of making our buildings sustainable and effective places in which to live and work. The SBRC’s mission is to assist in the rapid decarbonisation of our built environment. The SBRC brings together…

VITAL STATS Certification Status Living Certified Version of LBC 2.1 Location Amherst, MA, USA Project Area 16,940 SF Start of Occupancy April 2016 Owner Occupied Yes Number of Occupants 36 PROJECT TEAM Owner Hampshire College Project Manager Carl Weber Architect Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. General Contractor Wright Builders, Inc. Mechanical Engineer Kohler & Lewis Engineers…

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden’s mission is to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants, advance sustainability and human and environmental wellbeing through action and research, and to celebrate its historic glass houses. The mission of the organization is evident in the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL). A restored brownfield is…

Conceived as a high school science building dedicated to the study of alternative energy, the new Energy Lab at Hawaii Preparatory Academy functions as a zero-net-energy, fully sustainable building. The project’s fundamental goal is that of educating the next generation of students in the understanding of environmentally conscious, sustainable living systems. The building’s donor, the…

Google had outgrown its current office space in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, IL. Projecting future growth and increasing employee count, the company decided it needed more square feet of office space. Google leased 350,000 GSF of commercial office space in the West Loop neighborhood from local developer/building manager Sterling Bay. As part of…

The Frick Environmental Center is a Living Building dedicated to experiential environmental education. The new facility and its four-acre site act as a gateway to Pittsburgh’s wooded 644-acre Frick Park, and embody the neighborhood-to-nature ideal that served as inspiration for the Park’s formation more than 90 years ago. The Center exemplifies equity, experiential learning, and…

Etsy envisioned its new global headquarters as an opportunity to instigate change, to set a new standard for sustainable construction and design in a renovation project, and to create a space that reflected its values, especially those related to community, craft, and sustainability. They approached each decision with careful consideration of the long-term health of…