September, 2007 Intermountain Contractor

"GSBS, AJC Earn AIA 'Green' Award"
by Association News

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Utah Chapter, presented awards to two Salt Lake City architectural firms at its first-ever ‘Green Building’ competition to promote further awareness of sustainable design.

Salt Lake-based GSBS Architects was honored for its design of the Escalante Science Center and the Emigration Passive Solar Home projects, while AJC Architects of Salt Lake City earned an award for the Salt Lake Intermodal Hub.

“The award underscores the importance of sustainable design in reducing global warming and improving quality of life, and celebrates the excellent work by Utah architects,” said David Brems, architect of record on both GSBS projects. “It demonstrates that ‘green’ design can be beautiful design.”

The Emigration Passive Solar Home is a single-family house located in Salt Lake’s Emigration Canyon and site designed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED principles. A sustainable, contemporary home for a working couple and two children, it captures sunlight and daily thermal winds, offers spectacular canyon views, preserves and enjoys natural vegetation on a difficult site, creates a healthy indoor environment and enjoys low operating costs. It is constructed with low maintenance, locally produced materials, recycled content when possible, and low water use. Wind energy offsets electrical and natural gas contribution.

The Escalante Science Center is one of four visitor centers located in communities surrounding the monument. It is LEED Gold Certified, designed to utilize lumber form the local mill. It is a learning tool showcasing sustainable design, as it harvests rain and daylight, uses evaporative cooling, radiant heating, houses a photovoltaic array and is powered 100% by wind. These two projects are among the very first zero carbon buildings in the United States.

The Salt Lake Intermodal Hub is a 23,500 sq. ft. facility that includes a bus terminal, ticket counter, and offices for Greyhound personnel. It earned LEED Silver certification from USGBC, making it Salt Lake City Corporation’s first-ever LEED project.

A comfortable and appealing environment, with strong visual connections to the surrounding revitalized business environment, was especially important to enhance the atmosphere of an urban “hub.”

Utah AIA’s judging panel consisted of: Henry Siegel, a founding principal of Siegal & Strain Architects in Emeryville, Calif.; Tom Liebel, one of the nation’s first 30 LEED Accredited Professionals and a 16 year veteran; Len Segel, an 11-year veteran and LEED expert with DTJ Design in Boulder, Colorado.