What’s the point of green awards? I asked that question in a post last week and during an AIA panel discussion the following day,  a number of Seattle architects tried to answer the question (see the post for a list of architects on the panel).

But answers ranged across the board. So I asked, ”If you could boil what you want out of the green awards down to one thing, what would it be?” (One of this year’s award winners is at left - the planned Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma by Perkins + Will).

The response was that you really couldn’t boil it down to one thing. Green awards are supposed to: inspire, train people, get people interested in green buildings, share project information, elevate Seattle’s green building reputation, honor people equally that are pushing the envelope and just beginning to do green work, and change the way design is done.

Whew. Those are a lot of goals for one award program. But OK, assuming one program can achieve it all… how do you do it?

Here are some of the panel’s ideas for making AIA Seattle’s What Makes it Green Awards better, and for extending it’s breadth so that next year, you, Seattle-area-architect-who-is-only-kind-of-interested-in-green-building, will want to go to the event, and begin designing green: (more…)

If you’re already a LEED AP, or just want to take your green building education to the next level, the Cascadia chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council has a great opportunity for you.

In June, Cascadia launches ‘Living Building Leader.’ A program designed to go further than LEED and educate participants about the different parts of a living building. The very, very best part of this for people interested in living buildings across the country is it’s an online course, so even if you live in New York City let’s say, you can take it too!

The first session is June 4th. The topic is “spirit and meaning in design” and examines how buildings can celebrate place, culture and the environment. Jason McLennan, CEO of Cascadia, is presenting this topic.

For more about the program, click more (more…)