Last Thursday the annual BetterBricks Awards brought a host of honors to those in the local green building community. Awards were broken down into four categories: owner/decision maker, designer, advocate and facility operator/manager.
The first award, for owner/decision maker, went to Robert Gerding of Gerding Edlen Development, the company behind the Brewery Blocks, the South Waterfront (along with Williams & Dame and OHSU), and numerous other projects. Gerding was also paid tribute to by the Architectural Foundation of Oregon recently in its annual Honored Citizen dinner.
The next award, in the designer category, went to Brian Thornton, an engineer with Thornton Energy Consulting. As green buildings become more and more sophisticated with electrical and mechanical systems, such experts are an invaluable part of the design process, and need to be involved as early as possible. Designers like Thornton help make the most efficient uses of energy, water and other resources, often helping to significantly reduce overall building costs by creating efficiencies and in some cases selecting smaller-sized mechanical systems because of it.
Winner in the advocate category was Johanna Brickman, director of sustainability for Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership. I’ve been very impressed by the transformation ZGF has undergone in the last few years. Although longtime figures like Bob Frasca and Bob Packard are still heading the firm, ZGF has become significantly younger and has incorporated a more democratic, inclusive process for design. What’s more, they have people like Brickman working to ensure that a holistic approach with innovative materials assures as sustainable a work of architecture as possible.
The final award, for facility operator/manager, went to Kent Huey, vice president and general manager of Western Beverage Company, who pursued a host of sustainable design, materials and methods as his company’s new headquarters will use half the energy expected for a building its size.
Congrats to all the winners.
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