AIA PORTLAND DESIGN AWARDS 2007 Portland, Oregon, has traditionally kept a low architectural style profile compared to other West Coast cities of the United States, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle, with their array of landmarks by star architects. But this river city is becoming a hot commodity. Numerous publications have christened Portland as America's greenest city. There are more LEED-registered building projects in Portland than any other city in the country. — Published 2008.0507
	CLIMATE ACTION NOW Last week in Tackling Climate Change we took a reality check on the level of challenge embodied in established targets for reducing emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. This week, we're announcing a new call to action for architecture firms across the United States and around the world. — Published 2008.0430
	LIVABLE BUILDINGS AWARDS The inaugural Livable Buildings Awards spotlight buildings that excel not only in design and resource efficiency, but also in user satisfaction. Initiated in 2007 by the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the University of California, Berkeley, the awards program recognizes buildings that have been evaluated using CBE's Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Survey and received one of the topmost scores. — Published 2008.0312
	LEED GOLD RESURRECTION To visit the RiverEast Center in Portland, Oregon, is to stand at a major crossroads. The newly renovated former warehouse building sits along the Willamette River, just across from downtown, at the base of the Hawthorne Bridge. This location affords unobstructed views of boats and cars streaming by in the foreground with the classic downtown Portland skyline behind. The RiverEast Center also sits beside a massive freeway bridge and overpass to the west and a railroad track busy with freight and occasional passenger trains to the east. — Published 2008.0109
	ALDO LEOPOLD LEGACY CENTER "That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics." — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949 — Published 2007.1003
	PLATINUM B-SIDE Natural daylight, cooling and ventilating efficiencies, and low-impact material selections helped add up to a USGBC LEED Platinum certification for Building B of the new Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (ASU). The first LEED Platinum building in Arizona joined the elite green ranks of fewer than 60 LEED Platinum-certified buildings worldwide. — Published 2007.0919
	HEARST TOWER Pritzker Prize laureate Norman Foster is a master of levitating buildings of dubious design, treatment, or association to the pantheon of architectural icons. The Hearst Tower in Manhattan, which he designed in collaboration with architects Adamson Associates and Gensler, is the most recent example of this resuscitation. The 42-story glass- and metal-skinned tower is characterized by a large diagonal grid, emphasized by vertically alternating recessed and projecting multistory corner triangles. — Published 2007.0523
	AIA'S BEST LIBRARIES 2007 When Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie opened his first public library in his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1883, the motto he had inscribed over the door was "Let there be light." Although he was probably referring to the enlightenment of learning, his words resonate today in the importance modern architects place on daylighting in libraries. — Published 2007.0523
	HOK STRAW BALE For over a decade, straw-bale construction has been growing in popularity among "alternative" house builders. The durable, low-cost, nontoxic, highly insulating, pest-resistant, and potentially structural material is especially practical in hot arid climates. It was used extensively in the treeless grasslands of the U.S. Midwest early in the 20th century. — Published 2007.0516
	LEED GOLD HOSPITAL Because of unusually strict technical, mechanical, and air quality requirements, hospitals are one of the most difficult building types to design sustainably. Yet the Providence Newberg Medical Center by Mahlum Architects has achieved a LEED Gold rating — the first hospital in the United States to do so. It is also the first U.S. hospital to acquire enough renewable electric power to meet all its needs. — Published 2007.0502

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