News

Lutz, Florida FL, June 7th, 2010 - Learning Gate Community School is first public school to achieve Platinum certification under the LEED for Schools rating system through USGBC (U. S. Green Building Council). LEED is the internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

"Learning Gate Community School should be congratulated on their remarkable accomplishment," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "Achieving Platinum certification under LEED for Schools demonstrates a strong commitment to ensuring all children have access to green schools within a generation."

Learning Gate Community School, located at 16215 Hanna Road, is an award-winning public charter school located in Lutz, Florida, whose mission is to prepare students to successfully participate in their family, school and community, through an educational program that promotes academic excellence, community service and environmental responsibility.

"It is an honor to be recognized at this level. Our school's mission and vision has always been green. When we envisioned this project, we knew we had to build Platinum and create an innovative teaching tool on our campus." said, Patti Girard, Founder and Principal at Learning Gate Community School.

"I am so pleased that we've received the nation's first LEED for Schools Platinum Certification for a charter/public school," said Charles Girard, Contractor on the project, President & CEO of Green Modular Solutions. "This prestigious award affirms our commitment to sustainable building practices. The work of innovative projects such as the Learning Gate Community School marks an important achievement in green modular building design. I am proud to have provided a healthy and energy efficient place for learning while also minimizing its impact on the environment."

Learning Gate Community School's motto, "Nature Is Our Best Teacher," exemplifies the natural spirit of the school and the focus of the environmental curriculum including global sustainability issues, organic agriculture and nutrition, water conservation, green design and construction, and renewable energy. Learning Gate has won the 2009 USGBC Green School Award and was a finalist in Governor Charlie Crist's Serve to Preserve Award 2009.

Cambria Natural Quartz Surfaces has chosen the countertop design at Lakewood Ranch Plastic Surgery for a national case study. They choose the project due to its unique use of the material which pushed the limits of the product. Features include a 4" edge and curved form. Parried with Bamboo laminated cabinetry and glass accent tile, the Check-in and Check-out desks create an incredible design feature for this project.

Lakewood Ranch Plastic Surgery is currently seeking LEED-CI certification. When pursuing LEED certification it is important that all installed materials help the design become more sustainable. Cambria Natural Quartz Surfaces are durable, nonporous composite products composed of 93% quartz. Cambria surfaces do not off-gas and contain zero formaldehyde or volatile organic compounds (VOC's). Cambria surfaces are GREENGUARD for Children and Schools certified and GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified.

Lakewood Ranch Plastic Surgery Office is the second project to recieve the "COOL" rating form the Tampa Bay Business Journal, CSA'a own office received the honor in 2009.

LWR Plastic Surgery is currently seeking LEED-CI certification for the US Green Building Council.

Tampa Bay Business Journal - by Margaret Cashill Staff writer

Tampa Bay's coolest office spaces designed to inspire employees - Tampa Bay Business Journal
Coolest Office Spaces, a TBBJ feature now in its third year, is dedicated to recognizing the "cool" in Tampa Bay area offices.

This year's spaces prove that cool is an ever-evolving concept, one that in 2010 departed from conventional design concepts and restored the notion of fun in the workplace.

Companies are choosing bright colors to liven up the mood and original artwork, in some cases created by the owners.

Owners favor collaborative, open environments that foster communication and camaraderie.

Read more: PDF of Article

Lakewood Ranch Plastic Surgery has been showcased in the May 2010 issue of Maddux Business Report. The article features the Sustainable & Architectural features of the project.  Article below or click image for PDF version.

by Jennifer Lugo

A cosmetic surgery center brings calm through architecture and design:

When passersby come into your office just to get a closer look at the décor and drop some compliments, you know you've got a unique design going on.

That's the case at Lakewood Ranch Plastic Surgery & Skin Care,a first-floor office of a three-story, otherwise nondescript medical office building near Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. The facility is a new one for the husband and wife team of Drs. Joshua and Andrea Kreithen. To design their dream office, the couple worked with Sarasota's Carlson Studio Architecture.
"Their old space was a typical, cold medical space with white bare walls," says Jedd Heap of Carlson Studio and primary designer.

"The doctors came to us looking for an organic, spa-type feel." Carlson Studio pulled the look off with a smart use of natural materials like stone, cork and wood. Curvy walls, undulating ceiling light fixtures and wavy flooring transitions eliminate all sense of "boxy" office space within the five exam rooms, four offices and the tranquil lobby space.

Inspiration also came, Heap says, from the doctors' original artwork that's displayed throughout the space. The purple partial wall in the lobby,for example, was built to anchor the sofa and provide a place to hang a painting. "Most of the scenes in their artwork are organic landscapes, almost surrealist," says Heap. "We wanted to integrate those into the design."

The lobby space has two main focal points - a "water wall" and a stone wall. The water wall screens the waiting area from the hallway that leads to the exam rooms. The stone wall begins in the lobby and continues into an exam room, winding through the space and out to the exit. It's dotted with lighted apertures for product display. Besides the obvious aesthetics, the project is registered to earn a "Silver" designation for green commercial interiors from the U.S. Green Building Council. The office is located in a corner of the building, which allows for daylight and outdoor views from most of the interior spaces. White translucent glass runs along the lower portion of the exam room corridor and clear glass runs above to provide ample natural light but maintain privacy.

Other sustainable features include:

• Zoned thermostats
• Carpet tiles with recycled content
• Renewable materials like cork and bamboo
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures and sensor faucets
• Lighting sensors and high-efficiency lighting
• Custom-built, no-added formaldehyde cabinetry and desks
• Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) interior paint
• Reused and Green Guard-certified furniture

The result is just what the doctors ordered. "People tell us it's the prettiest office they've ever seen," says Josie Cirrintano, the doctors' office receptionist. "We get compliments all the time. Not only from patients, but from people going to see other doctors." Says Heap: "When you walk through the door, it's a mindset change."

Michael Carlson, AIA, LEED AP & Jedd W. Heap, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP will present several of the firms LEED certified projects and discuss the philosophies behind each project's design and environmental integration.

Carlson Studio Architecture is a Sarasota-based, full service architecture firm, committed to design excellence, comprehensive project delivery and personal attention to each project. The firm is a regional leader in sustainable design and LEED projects.

Sustainability is a key principal we apply to all of our projects. The integrated design approach that we utilize in all our work allows us to provide high quality, high performance buildings for our clients. We look at our buildings as part of the greater "whole system." Everything is part of one Whole System.

Thursday, April 29 Roundtable discussion on Sustainable Building:  Turning Green into Green. Hosted by University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.  It is part of the Environmental Economics Policy Forum at USF. Lee-En Chung will be serving as moderator for  the Roundtable.

Panelist include:
Michael Carlson, AIA, LEED AP / Carlson Studio Architecture
Ben Sasse / Willis A. Smith Construction
Monica Kennedy / Elite Solar

The Roundtable will be held in the Selby Auditorium on the USF Sarasota/Manatee campus. 3:30-5:30 PM.
http://sarasota.usf.edu/green/

Series Overview

Roundtable Series

Gateway Bank's University Parkway branch was recently awarded LEED Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

This was the third branch Gateway renovated in Sarasota but it's now the first certified bank in Sarasota County. Carlson Studio Architecture re-designed the facility and Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc. was the contractor. Because more than 50% of the building was remodeled, the project qualified as a major renovation under the USGBC's LEED-NC program. 

According to Michael Carlson, LEED AP BD+C, AIA and principal of Carlson Studio Architecture, by maintaining the existing structure the embodied energy originally expended to create the building was preserved.  This decision became the cornerstone of the project's sustainable direction.  Green renovations can save building owners money and time in many cases.
 
Green features of the completed renovation include an estimated 15% reduction in energy use and water demand has been reduced by approximately 40%.  The addition of large windows and interior glazing allowed day lighting to pass through the building, as well as provide views to the outside from every office. Day lighting helps reduce energy costs and increases worker productivity while contributing to decreased absenteeism rates.  One of the best and most recognizable improvements to the Gateway Bank branch is the flooring which was manufactured using recycled materials.  Low emitting materials, paints and adhesives were also used throughout the project to improve indoor air quality.

For more information, visit http://www.carlsonstudio.org/, http://www.willissmith.com/ or http://www.gatewaybankandtrust.com/.

Carlson Studio Architecture has been asked to combine our knowledge of Green Design and Animal Hospital design into a very exciting new project. The Non profit organization is renovating a vacant car dealership into a state-of-the art animal hospital. They are partnering with regional veterinary programs to offer teaching opportunities, as project is taking the best examples of human hospitals and applying it to care for your pets. More details to follow...

Non Profit's Mission / Project statement:

Our mission is to provide all aspects of health care for our communities' pets while making the facility as sustainable or "green" as possible.  Our main focuses will be a twenty-four hour hospital, lab on site, research center, and pet oriented retail in the front. A training area for events and stage that includes extra parking for the events will be on the southern edge of the property. On the back of the property there will be kennels for domestic cats and dogs that also includes a feral cat dorm or "Habicat". The kennels will be made up of five buildings like dorms, two for cats, three for dogs. 
The hospital will be a state of the art facility that will have all the latest and best equipment such as a MRI, cat scan and digital x-ray.  The veterinarian staff will consist of a chief surgeon and interns who have graduated school but need to work under someone before they can open their own practice.  They will do a two year rotation which will allow them to learn the practice from the ground up.  They will work with every aspect from the vet work to the kennels, etc which will give them insight into running their own practice. At the end of the two year rotation they can either stay with us or choose to move on to their own practice. 

We also hope to get the local vets in the area to become participating vets.  They would volunteer two days a month in the hospital and in turn they would have access to our equipment for their regular patients. We will have a lab on site to expedite the lab tests instead of the tests being sent out of the area as well as allowing the local vets access to a local lab. This will allow results the next day instead of the normal two to three day wait since it is time sensitive information. The research facility will look into diseases that affect our pets.

There will be pet oriented retail space that will offer a variety of pet related services such as, but not limited to, a groomer, a pet treat/bakery, a pet supply shop, and an obedience trainer.  There will be a rehab facility that will help with rehabilitation after surgery and trauma as well as aging dogs that have problems such as arthritis. The goal is to make this facility into a convenient, one stop experience for our customers. 

There will be a "no pet turned away" policy at our hospital which means every animal will be treated regardless of ability to pay.  This will be done by utilizing existing grants through non profits, city and county monies, and donations.

An added benefit of this facility is that it will be as sustainable as possible.  We will utilize solar panels on the roof to absorb electrical costs.  Solar panels will also be used to provide hot water.  We will use carpets  and paints with no VOC's, drywall and framing will be made utilizing 90% reclaimed material, sustainable furniture, water catchment, native landscaping, and natural lighting.  We intend on our entire interior to be sustainable or "green." We can utilize grants to absorb 40% of the cost of development by pursuing the green initiatives, as well as providing a clean facility for our animals at the same time.

Just announced, Rothenbach Park will be awarded the Environmental Sustainability for Engineering Excellence from the American Academy of Enviromental Engineers (AAEE).

The award will be presented on April 28th in Washington DC.

The Excellence in Environmental Engineering® Competition exists to identify and reward the best of today's environmental engineering. Its criteria define what it takes to be the best in environmental engineering practice: a holistic environmental perspective, innovation, proven performance and customer satisfaction, and contribution to an improved quality of life and economic efficiency.

The E3 Competition, begun in 1989, is organized around the normal phases of development and implementation of environmental management projects and programs: research, planning, design, and operations and management. Each year, the entrants to the competition display a wide range of projects from innovative designs in waste treatment plants to new water treatment technologies to a one-of-a-kind Superfund site cleanup. At the same time, we see that today's engineers are becoming significantly more integrated in a team/project approach, allowing for greater flexibility and efficiency in project management. The application of new technologies combined with experienced environmental engineering practices make these projects the award winners they are.

Those chosen for prizes by an independent panel of distinguished experts, addresses the broad range of modern challenges inherent in providing life-nurturing services for humans and protection of the environment. They are but a small percentage of the many projects involving environmental engineers around the world. Nevertheless, their innovations and performance illustrate the essential role of environmental engineers in providing a healthy planet. These award winners testify to the genius of humankind and best exemplify the Excellence in Environmental Engineering® criteria.

http://www.aaee.net/ 

From ABC 7 www.mysuncoast.com

LAKEWOOD RANCH - It's a place we all hope we'll never need to visit, but it's one we're all thankful is here.  The Wellness Community offers free support services to cancer patients and their families, and soon will have a new healthy home to serve their clients.

The Wellness Community is an amazing asset to the Suncoast.  And amazing certainly describes their new, green home that's now going up in Lakewood Ranch.

From a model to reality, it's the new home of hope.  It's where your friends, neighbors, family members...maybe even you one day, will come to heal.

Construction crews are creating a healing environment for cancer patients.  The Building Hope campus is being built to green standards, like no-VOC paints, sealants and adhesives...which translates to a healthy environment.  "Cancer patients' immune systems are compromised, so having clean, healthy indoor air to breathe everyday is really very, very important," says executive director Jay Lockaby.

And so is natural light.  That's why there are lots of windows in the buildings -- both in the walls and on the roof.  "The research that we looked at told us that natural light was healing.  So the architect, the designers really maximized by having 2 pods instead of one building, so you got 8 sides facing outside instead of two.  They really maximize all the natural light they could."

And those windows will look out at a 400-acre nature preserve...another element of the healing that will happen there.

And topping it all off is the Bridge of Hope, a 156-foot long wooden arch that soars above the campus.

At its base is another green element: century-old logs found at the bottom of the Suwanee River.  "Not being that they were cut down specifically for use in this building, they were cut down years ago and they were sunk in the river, and we recovered them.  So you're not cutting down new forest, new pine trees to do that," says Wade Wolfe, project manager with Willis A. Smith Construction.

The facility will allow the Wellness Community to serve more people and serve them better.  It will also become an example.  "All the other Wellness Communities will be looking at this as the model facility if they build from the ground up, or even if they just add a wing or change the paint.  They can learn that no-VOC paint can help cancer patients."

Willis A. Smith Construction is building the new facility.  They are the local experts in green commercial building.

The Wellness Community is still trying to raise money for all the healing elements that will be part of the Building Hope campus.

If you'd like to learn more, visit www.helpusbuildhope.com/.