Perkins+Will Wins Two AIA/COTE Top 10 Green Projects Awards

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Perkins+Will announced today that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) has selected two of the firm’s buildings as a 2009 COTE Top 10 Green Project. The firm received the award for Dockside Green Residential Phase I, Victoria, BC, and the Great River Energy (GRE) headquarters building, Maple Grove, Minn. The COTE Top 10 projects recognize the best examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. Projects are judged against a rigorous set of criteria and must demonstrate design innovation while positively contributing to their communities.

“Sustainable design has always been in our DNA”

“Sustainable design has always been in our DNA,” said Peter Busby, managing director of Perkins+Will and architectural team leader for the Dockside Green project. “At Perkins+Will, we believe that it is our responsibility to create healthier environments by developing design solutions that address the triple bottom line of sustainability.”

Dockside Green Residential Phase I, also referred to as “Synergy”, consists of four detached residential and is the highest-scoring LEED ^® Platinum Certified building on record. The development employs an integrated energy system that ensures the development will be greenhouse gas neutral, while also providing the opportunity for the project to become a net-energy provider. In addition to designing Synergy, Perkins+Will was responsible for the master plan for the entire 15-acre mixed-use Dockside Green development on Victoria’s inner harbor, which is expected to become the first LEED ^® Platinum community in the world.

“Our integrated design process empowered us to work with a large team of players to develop a vision for Dockside Green that is truly sustainable,” said Busby. “Dockside Green represents the future of sustainable design, and we are proud to work with the developers, Windmill West and Vancity Enterprises, to change the way the building industry views sustainable development.”

“Great River Energy’s headquarters is a purposeful demonstration of green building features,” said David Dimond, design principal on GRE for Perkins+Will. “Our client, a not-for-profit electric utility cooperative and Minnesota’s second largest electric wholesale supplier, envisioned their new 166,000 square foot headquarters as a showcase of sustainable building solutions directly transferable to their electric co-op members.”

GRE’s LEED ^® Platinum Certified building – Minnesota’s first – is a healthy work environment supplied with abundant daylight through narrow atriums. A low-velocity under-floor displacement ventilation system is coupled with lake-source geothermal to provide 30 percent more fresh air into the breathing zone while using 50 percent less energy than a comparable facility. A 166-foot tall, 200-kilowatt re-manufactured wind turbine is combined with roof-mounted photovoltaic panels to provide 14 percent of the building’s energy. Overall fossil fuel use is reduced by 75 percent, cutting CO2 emissions by 60 percent to meet the 2015 goals of AIA’s 2030 Challenge.

“At Perkins+Will, we were honored to realize GRE’s vision through a highly integrated team effort that included Dunham Engineers and McGough Construction. Since GRE opened its headquarters on Earth Day 2008, more than 7,000 visitors have witnessed that green design is efficient, affordable, comfortable, healthy and necessary,” said Dimond.

About Perkins+Will

Established in 1935, Perkins+Will (www.perkinswill.com) is an integrated design firm serving clients from 22 offices around the world. The firm practices architecture, interiors, branded environments, planning + strategies and urban design with clients in the aviation, corporate + commercial + civic, healthcare, higher education, K-12 education, and science + technology markets. Perkins+Will routinely ranks among the world's top design firms and has received hundreds of awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects' "Firm of the Year Award." With more LEED(r) Accredited Professionals than any other firm, Perkins+Will is recognized as a leader in the sustainable design movement.