USGBC Announces 2005 Leadership Award Winners

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the winners of the fourth annual Leadership Awards program in conjunction with its Greenbuild conference in Atlanta. Designed to “recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that signify vision, leadership, and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction,” the program was expanded to six categories this year, and USGBC recognized both an organization and an individual within each category. More information is online at www.usgbc.org.

•The

Kresge Foundation, among the largest foundations in the U.S., was recognized in the Community category for supporting and funding green building. For more on Kresge’s work, see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 1 and

Vol. 14, No. 4.

Bob Berkebile, principal of BNIM Architects in Kansas City, Missouri, and founding chairman of The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment, was also recognized in the Community category “for his lifelong commitment to sustainability.” Berkebile is also a former member of the USGBC board of directors and a current member of

EBN’s advisory board.

•Croxton Collaborative Architects, based in New York City, was recognized in the Education category. Founded by Randolph Croxton, the firm was recognized for its role in “defining the criteria used to establish universally accepted goals and practices in this field of green architecture.” Also recognized in the Education category was

Traci Ryder, chair and founding member of USGBC’s Emerging Green Builders chapter. Ryder also established the USGBC Design Competition (now the Natural Talent Design Competition, see p. 11).

•The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) won the LEED organization award. Craig Kneeland, senior project manager in charge of the organization’s Green Building Services division, was recognized for initiating the first green building program based on the principles of LEED in New York and for leading the development of the New York State green building tax credit (see

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 5, and

Vol. 12, No. 7).

Paul von Paumgartten of Johnson Controls was given the LEED individual award for his work in the development of LEED for New Construction and LEED for Existing Buildings, for serving as a member and chair of LEED committees, and for his work with Johnson Controls.

•The architecture firm

Gensler was recognized in the Organizational Excellence category “for its advancement of sustainable design in the role of leader, innovator, and supporter of the successful, seamless integration of superior design and green principles.”

Ross Spiegel, senior specification writer with Fletcher Thompson, Inc., based in Hartford, Connecticut, was also honored for Organizational Excellence. Spiegel leads his firm’s “green team” and coauthored

Green Building Materials (see review in

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 10). He also served on the steering committees for the past four Greenbuild conferences.

•A Research award was given to the

Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings, a joint effort of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, The American Institute of Architects, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the New Buildings Institute. The Research individual award was given to

G. Z. Brown, professor of architecture at the University of Oregon and director and founder of the school’s Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory. Brown also authored the classic

Sun, Wind, and Light (see review in

EBN

Vol. 11, No. 4).

•The nonprofit

Global Green, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International, was given the Advocacy award for working over the past decade to advance policy initiatives that support green building.

Tim Carey, former president and CEO of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) and current chief operating officer of the New York Power Authority, was also recognized in the Advocacy category for his work with BPCA (see

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 11, and

Vol. 11, No. 6).