Looking at the final results, it’s hard to believe that more than 75 percent of the exterior structure was saved in this renovation of an industrial building. While architecturally dramatic, the transformation is equally impressive for its emphasis on sustainability.
Sausalito's Marine Mammal Center updates its 1975 facilities, sited on a decommissioned missile base, to include sustainable features
Working in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, the non-profit organization Historic Green aims to help the neighborhood become the nation's first zero carbon community
At Seattle's Pier 56, Mithun set about instilling a sense of place while creating a sustainable future. Ten years after move-in day, the office continues to act as a living laboratory.
Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, upgraded its Bowdoin College Museum of Art to care for its valuable art collection.
A 120-year-old brick structure underwent a complete rehabilitation, incorporating clever resource-conservation strategies and setting some precedents along the way.
Demolishing an existing house for a renovation or infill project may be quick and easy, but a lot of those building materials unnecessarily end up in land fills. According to the EPA's 2003 estimates, 164 million tons of waste was generated from building activities, including construction, renovation, and demolition. Demolition alone accounts for 54 percent of the total waste stream, says Brad Guy, president of the Building Materials Reuse Association. Guy estimates that deconstruction and re-use currently recapture only about .2 percent of the total waste stream.