"Beyond Green" Award for Kroon Hall
In its annual High Performance Building Awards the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) has recognized Kroon Hall as one of five buildings nationwide that went “Beyond Green.”
Designed by Hopkins Architects of London, in collaboration with Centerbrook Architects, the new home of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies incorporates a wide range of sustainable strategies and design features and was recently certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council, garnering seven more ratings points than the requisite 52.
“Our jury was impressed by the range and quality of submissions received for the 2009 competition,” said Gregg Ander, FAIA, Chair of the SBIC awards jury and Chief Architect for Southern California Edison. “Clearly the number of high-performance building practitioners has increased. And while this made our task particularly arduous, thoughtful deliberations allowed us to select a number of exciting projects.” Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL), co-chairs of the High Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus, attended the Capitol Hill ceremonies and lauded the winners for their work.
The five recognized projects will be featured on SBIC's web site, described in depth as case studies on the Whole Building Design Guide (www.WBDG.org), and integrated into a variety of SBIC educational programs.
The 66,818-square-foot Kroon Hall was designed to use 81 percent less water and 58 percent less energy than a comparable baseline structure and to generate 25 percent of its electricity onsite from renewable sources. It has garnered six other awards for design excellence.
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Centerbrook Architects was established in 1975 and has a national reputation for design excellence. In 1998 Centerbrook received the national AIA Firm Award, the highest honor that the American Institute of Architects confers on a firm.