Sustainable Design Blog

SEARCHLIGHT, NEV. (May 2011) – The National Park Service and Forever Resorts, LLC are dedicating the first floating building project in the world to be registered for LEED® certification on Monday, June 6, at 1 p.m. at Lake Mead National Recreation Area’s Cottonwood Cove Resort and Marina on Lake Mohave.  The building, which will serve as the marina’s operations office, is expected to be certified at the LEED® Gold rating.

“It was a visionary team made up of private industry and government led by our partner Forever Resorts that transformed this idea into action,” said Superintendent Bill Dickinson. “We’re setting the standard for eco-friendly floating buildings. There’s no better place than in a national park to do that.”

“Forever Resorts is dedicated to conservation and environmentally sustainable practices, and we couldn’t be more excited to make history by developing a building that embraces the eco-friendly principles we support,” said John Schoppmann, executive vice president, Forever Resorts. “We will use this building not only to welcome our customers, but also to educate them about sustainable building practices.”

Carlson Studio Architecture, based in Sarasota, FL, was selected to resolve the unique challenge of designing a floating green building based upon their diverse sustainable design leadership.  “Every building type has the potential to perform at a higher level with integrated environmental considerations,” explained Project Architect Michael R. Carlson, AIA, LEED AP. “We jumped at the chance to work with this team to design a first-of-its-kind, first-class marine facility.”

Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the fifth most visited national park in the country and is located adjacent to Las Vegas, the nation’s top tourist destination. Its 1.5 million acres, which includes Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, hosts over 7 million visitors each year. The park offers an unparalleled variety of outdoor experiences, a surprising contrast that complements a Las Vegas or Laughlin, Nev visit. (http://www.nps.gov/lakemead)

Forever Resorts, LLC is an authorized concessionaire of the National Park Service dedicated to providing a collection of destinations that provide hospitality services throughout the world. Forever Resorts focuses on properties with access to nature and one-of-a-kind surroundings for vacations. (http://www.foreverresorts.com and http://www.foreverearth.net)

Cottonwood Cove Resort and Marina is located 90 minutes from Las Vegas and offers lakeside accommodations, houseboat and powerboat rentals, the Cottonwood Cove Cafe and a full-service RV park. It is situated on beautiful Lake Mohave, part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which features miles of unspoiled shoreline, plenty of secluded, sandy beaches, crystal-clear water and consistently high lake levels (http://www.cottonwoodcoveresort.com).

The beautiful offices of Lakewood Ranch Plastic Surgery & Skin Care and Lakewood Ranch Family Medicine have earned the LEED Certification.  This is the first private physician’s office and medical spa in the state of Florida to be LEED certified.   In honor of this, Drs Joshua and Andrea Kreithen will host a party and LEED certification ceremony on Tuesday, December 7, from 4 until 7 pm. The office is located at 6310 Health Park Way, Suite #110 behind the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.

The office space is recognized for energy use, lighting, water and material use. The medical practices have also incorporated a variety of sustainable strategies in their everyday practices. Ultimately, LEED certified facilities reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to an overall healthier environment.

Michael Carlson, AIA, LEED AP of Carlson Studio Architecture, based in Sarasota, served as the architect for the project. The company is a recognized leader in green building design in Florida. They were able to incorporate natural light, renewable resources and overall healthy design to create a space that is pleasant, calm, healthy and relaxing.

“Utilizing as many sustainable building practices as possible, our goal was to make our office a beautiful place that promotes a healthier environment,”  states Joshua Kreithen, MD Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. “We use energy, water and other natural resources more efficiently, in turn reducing our impact on the environment while creating a sense of health, serenity and well-being.” “It was an easy decision for us to ‘go green.’ We know that a LEED certified area is healthier for our clients and our staff. It’s the right thing to do.”

The LEED ceremony will take place at 4 pm. Immediately following, there will be a party for the public. Tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. There will be demonstrations of services and products available at the health care facility.

U.S. Green Building Council

The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.

With a community comprising 80 local affiliates, more than 18,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 155,000 LEED Professional Credential holders, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product from 2009-2013.

LEED

The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. More than 32,000 projects are currently participating in the commercial and institutional LEED rating systems, comprising over 9.6 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and 114 countries.

By using less energy, LEED-certified buildings save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

By WALKER MEADE Correspondent
Herald Tribune

There is no better evidence of the great change in our attitude toward breast cancer than the pink-ribboned bumper stickers that we see all over town: "Save the Ta-ta's."
A decade ago, lightheartedness about such a serious subject would not have been possible. A breast cancer diagnosis then was experienced as a death sentence. Now, medicine has achieved a five-year survival rate of close to 90 percent for those diagnosed with stage one cancer, and the support system for those suffering from cancer is vast. An organization in Southwest Florida that has been dedicated since 1996 to helping women get healthy again is The Wellness Community Southwest Florida, now called The Cancer Support Community Florida Suncoast after merging with Gilda's Club last summer. Its mission is "to help people affected by cancer enhance their health and well-being through participation in a professional program of support, education and hope."

The organization recently moved from its longtime home on Clark Road in Sarasota to a new facility on Communications Parkway in Lakewood Ranch and hired Sarasota businessman Carl Ritter as its CEO. The five-acre campus, surrounded by more than two acres of gardens bordering a 600-acre nature preserve, is the result of a multi-faceted collaboration. Early on, the center established relationships with New College of Florida, Florida State University's College of Medicine in Sarasota and Ringling College of Art and Design. In the fall of 2006, six upper-level Ringling students collaborated on an assignment to address the project's design concept: illustrating the transforming power of connection and choice.

By Harold Bubil, Herald Tribune

If anything, people who have just been given a cancer diagnosis need a friend.

At the Cancer Support Community Florida Suncoast's green new facility in Lakewood Ranch, architect Michael Carlson has given them eight, in the form of 500-year-old pine logs serving as support posts. He says they are like "old friends."

Recovered from river bottoms, the logs are the distinctive architectural feature of the $6.1 million building, which will be dedicated Nov. 12 with a black-tie gala. The four, 30-foot-tall main posts support a 156-foot-long archway -- "the bridge of hope" -- that peaks at 35 feet above the building's courtyard, linking the structure's two sections.

"They have so much warmth and character to them," said Carlson, one of the region's leading green architects.

"When you walk in here, these are sort of like your old friends ... who have been here forever and are solid as a rock. You can touch them and feel them. They have that sense of permanence."

"Place matters" to cancer patients, says Johnette Isham, one of the leaders of the "Building Hope" construction program.

Several design charrettes and a lot of research went into the design of the 11,142-square-foot CSC. Senior Vice President Jay Lockaby said one of the research points "was to make an arrival experience, to have an obvious point of entry for someone new to the place. To have a ... warm environment for them to come into."

CSC program participant Dawn Moore, a breast cancer survivor, says there's "a very peaceful sense" in the new building.

That is fitting, as the CSC's mission is to provide psychological and social support to cancer patients and their relatives and caregivers, free of charge. CSC is part of the largest professionally trained network of cancer support facilities in the world, resulting from a merger of The Wellness Community and Gilda's Clubs, named for the late comedienne and ovarian cancer victim Gilda Radner.

The spaces include a meditation and exercise studio, a library, an education room, an art studio for children to encourage self-expression, gallery spaces, an Internet café, counseling and meeting rooms of various sizes; a large multiuse room for events, fundraisers, yoga and tai-chi, with a teaching kitchen (good nutrition is stressed); and outdoor areas for tai-chi, dining and healing gardens.

The complex has restful vistas of a nature preserve that is part of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.

Color choices replicate colors found in nature, which is believed to be more beneficial for cancer patients.

"A lot of that thinking came from the Ringling College class," said CSC board member David Shaver. "One of their senior classes devoted an entire semester to this building. They did the original color palette."

"The group rooms are quiet, with a living-room feel, but you know you are not at home," said Lockaby. "This is where we do support groups, primarily, and individual and family therapies."

The building, intended as it is to foster better health, includes many of the standard green features that make up the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) program. Carlson expects that the building's design has earned enough "LEED points" to qualify for the LEED-NC (new construction) Gold certification.

Sarasota, FL — Architect Michael Carlson, a leading green building design professional, has joined the board of directors of the Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA) to fill the remaining three-year term of former City Commissioner Richard Martin, following his resignation from the SHA.

“Michael Carlson will bring valuable experience and skills to our governing body,” said SHA Executive Director Bill Russell, upon the announcement.  “For an organization that is dedicated to building communities, empowering families and transforming lives, incorporating sustainability practices has become a real priority for us in staying true to our mission.”

A 1986 graduate of Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning where he also earned a bachelor of science in environmental design, Carlson was one of the first architects in Florida to achieve the LEED Accredited Professional designation in 2003.  He is a founding board member of the USGBC Florida Gulf Coast Chapter where he presently serves as Chapter vice president.  In 2009 he was the founding chair of the Myakka River Branch of the USGBC Chapter.  Carlson is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Florida Gulf Coast Chapter, and chairs the chapter's Committee on the Environment (COTE). He also serves as Chair of the Green Business Leadership Council for the Greater Sarasota Area Chamber of Commerce.  His Sarasota-based firm, Carlson Studio Architecture, is housed in a 1930’s-era neighborhood grocery that he retrofitted.  The building earned LEED-NC Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2007 and the firm has won several honors for exemplary green building design for its work with government facilities, educational institutions, residences, office buildings, non-profit organizations, restaurants, interior tenant build outs and healthcare facilities, as well as religious architecture. Carlson was the architect for the 2009 HGTV Green Home.

The Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA) was established as a public housing authority in 1938 under Florida statute to administer federal housing assistance for low, very low and extremely low-income families. Presently SHA provides subsidized housing for over 1,800 low-income families in Sarasota, FL. SHA administers an annual budget of over $10 million with a staff of 26.

The Cancer Support Community's "Building Hope" will officially open next Tuesday October 19th, 2010. The $6.1-million facility is located on five acres in north Sarasota County just east of I-75 in Lakewood Ranch. It will be run by the Cancer Support Community Florida Suncoast, the new name for the Wellness Community of Southwest Florida. The new center will include an 11,142-square-foot building and 2.2 acres of landscaped gardens. The facility is being designed to support people whose immune systems have been compromised.

The Building Hope project is seeking Gold Certification under the USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Enviromental Design (LEED) green building rating program.

SARASOTA HOUSING AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES BOARD CHANGES

Sarasota, FL (September 15, 2010)—The Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA) is announcing that its governing body has undergone some significant changes. First, John Colón, a Senior Vice President with Wells Fargo Advisors, was elected Chair of the Board at the agency’s Annual Meeting on August 4, 2010. Also elected that day was a new Vice Chair, Mary Anne Servian. Servian, a former Mayor and currently the Business Director for the Sarasota Ballet, is one of two new commissioners to be appointed this year.

In addition to Servian, who filled a vacancy left by Jude Levy, Michael R. Carlson, AIA, NCARB, LEED BD+C was appointed September 7, 2010 to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Richard Martin. Carlson, a regional green building design professional, is president of Sarasota-based sustainable design firm, Carlson Studio Architecture. In addition, Valerie Buchand, SHA Agency-wide Resident Council President, was reappointed to a four-year term after completing her initial two-year term. The seven current SHA commissioners are: John Colón, Mary Anne Servian, Valerie Buchand, Michael Carlson, Veavie DeLaughter, Duane Finger and Joseph Miller.

“I want to thank Jude Levy and Richard Martin for their service to the Housing Authority. They were both active in chairing committees and brought a real commitment to the board. I also want to thank Duane Finger, our outgoing Chair, and Veavie DeLaughter, our outgoing Vice Chair. They did a tremendous job leading the agency during our post-HUD Receivership period these past two years,” Chair John Colón said.  

 “We are so pleased that Mary Anne Servian, Michael Carlson and Valerie Buchand have been appointed to our board. They each bring very valuable experience and skills to our governing body. I am also confident our new Chair John Colón will lead the board to continue the tremendous resurgence of the Sarasota Housing Authority,” said Bill Russell, the SHA Executive Director.

The Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA) was established as a public housing authority in 1938 under Florida statute to administer federal housing assistance for low, very low and extremely low-income families. Presently SHA provides subsidized housing for over 1,800 low-income families in Sarasota, FL. SHA administers an annual budget of over $10 million with a staff of 26.

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/

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...