Sustainable Design Blog

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...

In the current issue of the Gulfcoast Business Review, Carlson Studio's Gateway Bank renovation is featured as one of the 1st LEED certified banks in Florida.

Gateway Bank goes green

by Carl Cronan, Tampa Bay Editor
Gulfcoast Business Review

Numerous smaller buildings along the Gulf Coast, particularly single-tenant office and retail structures, have sought and achieved LEED certification.

Sarasota-based Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida recently got the green stamp on its 4,500-square-foot Lockwood Ridge Road location, a former Regions Bank branch that opened in 1996.

Shaun Merriman, Gateway Bank president and CEO, says the decision to seek LEED certification was made while the building was being retrofitted for compliance with new state building codes designed to withstand hurricanes. He says the bank worked with Willis A. Smith Construction Inc., whose president, David Sessions, is on its board, as well as local architect Michael Carlson, a strong advocate of LEED design.

Changes to the building range from improved insulation to a new roof that absorbs less heat, with total payback estimated over four years. "It's saving us roughly $4,000 a year on our power bills," says Merriman, who has also calculated that the LEED branch uses at least 40% less energy than its comparable Manatee Avenue office.

An added benefit, he says, comes from being able to maintain a comfortable office setting with the thermostat set at 77 degrees - a seemingly magic number for air conditioning.

"We're not as focused on the economic return as we are on environmental impact," Merriman says. "It makes a huge difference. Not only that, but our employees like it."

Gateway Bank, which launched its own green commitment nearly two years ago, decided to pursue basic LEED certification instead of metal-named levels because gold or platinum is more difficult to achieve with existing buildings, Merriman says. Its next attempt at certifying another branch may be another two years away, he says.

In the meantime, he adds that bank customers are being offered various incentives for making changes that consume less paper, such as converting to e-statements and performing other banking functions online: "This business sure kills a lot of trees."

Read the rest of the arcticle

www.gatewaybank.com

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."

Michael Carlson, AIA, LEED AP & Jedd W. Heap, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP will present several of the firms LEED certified projects and discuss the philosophies behind each project's design and environmental integration.

Carlson Studio Architecture is a Sarasota-based, full service architecture firm, committed to design excellence, comprehensive project delivery and personal attention to each project. The firm is a regional leader in sustainable design and LEED projects.

Sustainability is a key principal we apply to all of our projects. The integrated design approach that we utilize in all our work allows us to provide high quality, high performance buildings for our clients. We look at our buildings as part of the greater "whole system." Everything is part of one Whole System.

Thursday, April 29 Roundtable discussion on Sustainable Building:  Turning Green into Green. Hosted by University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.  It is part of the Environmental Economics Policy Forum at USF. Lee-En Chung will be serving as moderator for  the Roundtable.

Panelist include:
Michael Carlson, AIA, LEED AP / Carlson Studio Architecture
Ben Sasse / Willis A. Smith Construction
Monica Kennedy / Elite Solar

The Roundtable will be held in the Selby Auditorium on the USF Sarasota/Manatee campus. 3:30-5:30 PM.
http://sarasota.usf.edu/green/

Series Overview

Roundtable Series

Gateway Bank's University Parkway branch was recently awarded LEED Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

This was the third branch Gateway renovated in Sarasota but it's now the first certified bank in Sarasota County. Carlson Studio Architecture re-designed the facility and Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc. was the contractor. Because more than 50% of the building was remodeled, the project qualified as a major renovation under the USGBC's LEED-NC program. 

According to Michael Carlson, LEED AP BD+C, AIA and principal of Carlson Studio Architecture, by maintaining the existing structure the embodied energy originally expended to create the building was preserved.  This decision became the cornerstone of the project's sustainable direction.  Green renovations can save building owners money and time in many cases.
 
Green features of the completed renovation include an estimated 15% reduction in energy use and water demand has been reduced by approximately 40%.  The addition of large windows and interior glazing allowed day lighting to pass through the building, as well as provide views to the outside from every office. Day lighting helps reduce energy costs and increases worker productivity while contributing to decreased absenteeism rates.  One of the best and most recognizable improvements to the Gateway Bank branch is the flooring which was manufactured using recycled materials.  Low emitting materials, paints and adhesives were also used throughout the project to improve indoor air quality.

For more information, visit http://www.carlsonstudio.org/, http://www.willissmith.com/ or http://www.gatewaybankandtrust.com/.