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Carlson Studio Architecture took top honors Saturday night in the LEED for Homes category at the U.S. Green Building Council-South Florida chapter’s GALA Verde competition.  President Michael Carlson of Carlson Studio Architecture accepted the first place award on behalf of the firm’s 2009 HGTV Green Home entry at the sold-out event held in the Crystal Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Resort in Fort Lauderdale.  The resort is a member of the Florida Green Lodging Program.

“We are incredibly humbled to be recognized with this honor,” Carlson stated from the podium.  “South Florida architecture enjoys an enviable reputation and the caliber of competition this year was considerable.”

Celebrating its 3rd year recognizing and honoring outstanding projects, inspirational businesses, dedicated individuals and chapter members who are LEEDing the way to a more sustainable built environment in South Florida, this year’s GALA Verde was a veritable “who’s who” in green building design and construction throughout South Florida. Eligible entries had to be located in one of the following counties:  Indian River, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade or Monroe.

Judges evaluated nominees on their demonstration of a holistic approach toward integrating green building and sustainable practices and principles into the design, execution and operation of their project, business or individual leadership efforts as well as the development of innovative solutions to regional challenges.

The HGTV 2009 Green Home is located in the planned community of Tradition in Port St. Lucie on Florida’s southeast Treasure Coast.  The home is LEED Platinum Certified by the US Green Building Council.  It is a 2,430-square-foot contemporary home that incorporates traditional design elements. In addition to Architect Michael Carlson, members of the design/build project team were HGTV Dream Home Planner Manager Jack Thomasson along with Interior Designer Linda Woodrum, Tradition President Wes McCurry, Contractor Leon Camarda and Landscape Architect Scott Davidson.

The four bedroom-three bath home features construction and design elements that are known to contribute to an energy-efficient, cleaner and even healthier living environment.  Sustainable features for the home began by orienting the building to maximize north / south exposures for optimum shading and protect interiors from sun exposure.  Natural day light is captured throughout the house with distinctive clerestory windows above the main open living area and solar tube skylights in the hallway and kitchen.  The changing daylight in the house also creates a sense of time and connection to nature.

Modern roofing technologies such as high solar reflecting materials and a roof garden create a cool, comfortable patio space.  Even though the metal roof appears dark in color with its terracotta red finish, is actually made of a highly reflective material that prevents unwanted heat gain. Solar photo voltaic (PV) cells are discreetly and ingeniously installed above the breezeway connecting the garage to the home.  The cells use renewable energy (solar power) to lower electricity use.

A highly insulated, solid concrete wall system known as Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) offers unparalleled storm protection and energy savings.  Water saving plumbing fixtures and rainwater collection for irrigation reduce the house's water demands.  Healthy materials, furnishings and finishes were liberally incorporated throughout the home's interior to provide superior indoor air quality.  Many materials also have recycled content.  The concrete foundation and glass tiles in the bathrooms are some examples of this.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the USGBC’s standardized 3rd party verification system, administered by the Green Building Certification Institute, for certifying the world’s greenest, energy efficient and high performance buildings.  

For more information about the project

By JAMES A. JONES JR. - jajones1@bradenton.com  

LAKEWOOD RANCH

One of the more unusual buildings to be constructed here is the Cancer Support Community of Southwest Florida. A 156-foot long, 35-foot high arch, called the “Bridge of Hope,” ties two 6,000-square-foot buildings together.  Eight massive columns supporting the arch are preserved tree logs recovered from the Suwanee River.

The logs were harvested from old-growth forest and floated down river more than 100 years ago. Some of the logs sank to the bottom of the river and remained there a century until discovered and excavated. The long time under water helped preserve the wood.

Cancer Support Community, formerly The Wellness Community, is scheduled for an October opening.

The Wellness Community recently merged with Gilda’s Clubs Worldwide to become Cancer Support Community.

Architect Michael Carlson designed the facility with input from Ringling College students and faculty, cancer survivors and medical experts.

The building sits on a five-acre parcel in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, backs up to Long Swamp and is surrounded by a 600-acre nature preserve.

“We feel that it fits in beautifully in that all-natural area,” Carlson said.

Designed to provide psychological and social support to cancer patients and their families, the facility and its staff offer a free, professional program of education and hope.

The Bridge of Hope architectural feature was envisioned for the facility from the beginning of planning, Carlson said.

The arch is not only a traditional design element that signifies strength and permanence, according to a fact sheet supplied by Carlson, it also gives visitors an empowering sense of comfort from the structural pillars.

The arch extends from the north side, or entrance of the facility, and beyond the south building.

When visitors enter the building, they see the underside of the arch high above them. The arch clears a connecting courtyard, and then passes over the south building with its children’s area and community room. The room can be used for events, exercise classes and more.

The arch intentionally dominates the design of Cancer Support Community. The rest of the building was scaled down to be simple, welcoming and non-institutional.

The facility was also designed to take advantage of its surroundings. It is aligned on a precise east-west axis so that the sides of the building face north and south. The orientation takes best advantage of natural light, while minimizing heat gain.

In addition, the building extends into outdoor landscaped spaces that provide Tai Chi gardens, a dining terrace, healing gardens and the central courtyard.

Willis A. Smith Construction is also the contractor for the project, and is building it to qualify for the Gold level of LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, Carlson said.

Programming design began in 2006, with construction commencing in July 2009.

“The challenge of the building was to take all these diverse groups and put the ideas together in a cohesive whole,” Carlson said. “Everybody that has seen it has been inspired. We’ve received great feedback.”

Executive Director Jay Lockaby released a statement as to why a healing environmental matters to those living with cancer:

“Thanks to the generous donors to our Building Hope campaign, we will be able to provide free support for up to 6,000 cancer patients and their families annually in the finest healing environment anywhere — a facility that improves quality of life and may enhance recovery as well.

“Our referring physicians agree that effective treatment includes therapy and support outside the hospital and doctor’s office,” said Lockaby. “As the little non-profit that could, our goal is to create an atmosphere of physical and emotional comfort and to share our model with people around the world.”

For more information on Cancer Support Community, visit www.wellness-swfl.org.

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee Editor, can be contacted at 745-7021.

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August 16, 2010 (Sarasota, FL)  Learning Gate Community School, a charter school in Hillsborough County with a curriculum that emphasizes nature, agriculture and environmental responsibility, became the first public school in the United States to earn LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.  The project, 3 new buildings, consisting of 10 classrooms and an 8,000-square-foot addition to the middle school campus, was designed by Carlson Studio Architecture.

“Green schools – whether newly constructed or retrofitted existing buildings - make a tremendous impact on student health, test scores, teacher retention, school operational costs and the environment,” said Carlson Studio Architecture President Michael Carlson.

The LEED Platinum Certification was awarded on a number of sustainable design strategies and construction features that include:

The new buildings are constructed using prefabricated 6" wood stud modules for quick site assembly. Once placed on their elevated foundations the buildings were insulated with R-30 Soy-Based spray insulation, walls are finished with 95% recycled content gypsum board, and the floors with "Cradle to Cradle" carpet tiles made from soda bottles.

Large insulated north facing windows allow for natural light, while dimmable T-8 fluorescent fixtures will automatically adjust to add additional lighting. The classrooms also utilize a High Efficiency A/C system, which dehumidifies both the fresh air and return air, allowing for smaller sized cooling units.

Rainwater is harvested for the flushing of 1.2 gallon per flush toilets, which will eventually be integrated into an on site "living machine" waste treatment center.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the USGBC’s standardized 3rd party verification system, administered by the Green Building Certification Institute, for certifying the world’s greenest, energy efficient and high performance buildings.  

For more information about the project, visit www.CarlsonStudio.org/projects/---public/learning-gate/ or www.LearningGate.org/

Bert Moreno, 10 Connects News

Lutz, Florida - Learning Gate Community School has been known for receiving A's on its annual report cards. Soon the school will be recognized for its color: green.

School officials believe Learning Gate has enough points to place it in the Platinum level for "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" (LEED). If that happens, the school would be just the third campus in the entire country to receive that recognition, and the first in Florida.

The school just finished installing solar panels on one of the buildings. This will cut the school's TECO Energy power bill by an estimated seven percent. This project, along with all of the others, should give Learning Gate enough points for the Platinum level in the LEED for Schools Project.

Last year they installed an energy management system that monitors all the energy use on campus and automatically adjusts to the outside temperatures as well as what's going on in the classroom. If there has been no movement inside a room for five minutes, the lights go out. Speaking of the lights, they adjust to the brightness outside, so on a sunny day they might only be on at 20 percent, if it gets cloudy later on they will increase their brightness.

The insulation is made from soy beans and the humidity inside the classrooms is automatically adjusted to make the students more comfortable while using less electricity. They also created a rain water runoff system, that catches the water, places it in a bladder underneath a building and uses that water to flush four commodes on campus, saving 36,000 gallons of fresh water every school year.

Principal Patti Girard says that there are more green initiatives in the future. The school is working on funding for an aquatic garden, growing vegetables as well as fish, in one project.

Girard says that all the projects have been funded by parent fundraisers, corporate sponsorship and lots of grant awards.

Solar Panels installed by ECO Technologies

by ABC 7 mysuncoast.com
SARASOTA COUNTY - Banks are used to dealing with the color green; but one Suncoast bank has taken it a step further by working green.
We ask our banks to keep our money safe.  Gateway Bank's University Boulevard branch is also protecting our environment.  It was retrofitted about a year ago by Willis A. Smith Construction -- experts in green building -- and green architect Michael Carlson.
The result is an energy and water efficient building that's LEED certified.  It's only the fourth bank in the state to earn that distinction, and the first in the area.
Willis Smith and Gateway have compared its efficiency to another Gateway Branch in Bradenton over the past year.  "And what's nice is the 2 branches are relatively similar, so we're now, after a year, we can compare the data and utility costs," says Dave Sessions, president of Willis A. Smith Construction.
"On a per square foot basis, we're seeing a 41% savings with the LEED-certified branch vs. the non-LEED-certified branch.  So it's pretty tremendous, and the payback we've estimated is right at 38 months, so we're very, very encouraged on that," says Shaun Merriman, president and CEO of Gateway Bank of SW Florida.
The savings comes from three main elements: the windows keep the heat out and the cool air in; underneath the bank's roof is highly effective spray foam insulation; and because the building is so well insulated now.  Smaller, more efficient air conditioners were installed, lowering the cost of its power bills.
The bank is also a healthy place to work.  All paints, materials, carpets and sealants are no-VOC -- that means they contain no volatile organic compounds...basically chemicals that can make us sick.
Merriman hopes more businesses will go green.  He says there are less than 10 LEED-certified buildings in Sarasota County.  "We have a lot of room for improvement and I'm very encouraged that our bank was one of the very first to take that step and take that initiative."
Click here to see full article

Jay Lockaby, CEO of The Wellness Community of Southwest Florida (www.wellness-swfl.org), has been named to a new position by the organization’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Lockaby will become Senior Vice President of Affiliate Relations and Strategic Growth for the Cancer Support Community, a network including 50 local affiliates and more than 100 satellite locations. Jay will begin the transition to the national headquarters staff on September 7, but will maintain his role as CEO of the The Wellness Community of Southwest Florida until December 1 to help shepherd the organization through the grand opening of the newly-constructed facility scheduled for November 12th.

The announcement is just the latest recognition for Lockaby and The Wellness Community (TWC) here. The local organization previously received national’s Center of Excellence award with the highest score across 116 critical indicators of success. In 2007, Lockaby received the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professional of the Year Award, and last year TWC was a finalist for the local chamber’s Non-Profit of the Year Award.

In September, TWC plans to open a state-of-the-art facility for cancer patients and their families on a five-acre campus in Lakewood Ranch. Surrounded by healing gardens and serene nature preserves, this model of an optimal healing environment incorporates the latest in green technology and will be a worldwide prototype for other cancer support organizations.

“This exciting initiative will have a far reaching impact that will help change the face of psychosocial care for people affected by cancer,” said Kim Thiboldeaux, CEO of the international Cancer Support Community, in speaking about the new facility here.

Lockaby will remain in this area in his new position, supporting all the local cancer support organizations created by the recent merger of The Wellness Community with Gilda’s Clubs Worldwide.

The Wellness Community provides hope, education and support to people affected by cancer, and all of its programs are provided free of charge. Through participation in support groups, informational workshops and mind/body classes, people affected by cancer learn vital skills that improve the quality of their lives and make them better partners with their medical professionals. TWC is now part of the largest professionally-led network of cancer support in the world.

For more information, please contact Carol Ann Kalish, Board Chair, The Wellness Community of Southwest Florida, 941-329-6626.

Carlson Studio Architecture & Eco-Consulting is the only firm in the region to have six projects successfully achieve LEED Certification. What does that mean for you? Letting someone else learn the ropes at your expense is costly.  Carlson Studio Architecture delivers your new green building or green renovation on time and on budget without drama!

Jedd W. Heap, LEED AP of Carlson Studio Archietcture will be accompanying the Learning Gate Community School demonstration exhibit to the National Charter School Conference in Chicago on June 28th, 2010. The Conference is featuring a prototype version of the LEED Platinum prefab structure in their exhibition hall.  Learning Gate Community School has applied what they learned by building their own LEED classroom additional and packaging it with their cutting edge enviromental cirriculum. "Learning Gate in a box" was the idea of the school's principal Patti Girard, and will offered to other charter schools looking to begin teaching through nature.

The confernece runs from June 28th through July 1st, with the exhibit hall opening at 7:30am on June 29th.

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."