12th Annual Sustainable Innovation Awards to be Announced at U.S. Green Building Council-L.A. Green Gala Tonight, with Two Projects of the Year
Recognized Community Leaders include The Walt Disney Company, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, Stand LA, Climate Resolve
Los Angeles, CA (December 8, 2022) – Tonight at its 18th Annual Green Gala, the U.S. Green Building Council-Los Angeles (USGBC-LA) community will celebrate “This Starry Night” in Hollywood, as it presents the 12th Annual Sustainable Innovation Awards (SIA). For the second year in a row, there will be two Projects of the Year awarded: the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California Headquarters, Mary D. Nichols Campus in Riverside, and the Campbell Collective, a Los Angeles residence.
Ten more exceptional individual projects are being awarded. USGBC-LA is also proud to recognize Community Leaders, who this year include Climate Resolve, The Walt Disney Company, Councilmember Nithya Raman, Alex Sassoon at P2S Inc., Stand LA Coalition, four key member-volunteers, and the 4th annual Kevin Devine Award, being presented to Wayne Alldredge of VCA Green.
“This has been an incredible year of growth and momentum for our community as we come together buoyed by the progress we have seen around policy yet nervous about the collective economic headwinds facing us as we head into 2023,” states USGBC-LA Executive Director Ben Stapleton. “We had some incredible submissions for both our Sustainable Innovation Awards as well as our Community Awards, and our two Projects of the Year exemplify both large high profile public projects as well as homes in our local communities that make a positive impact.”
The SIAs affirm a project team’s commitment to a sustainable built environment; evaluate merit-based sustainable strategies that demonstrate exemplary performance by going above and beyond credit achievement in built or un-built projects; and reflect the organization’s emphasis on energy and water savings, air quality, waste, good design, community engagement, education and equity. The SIAs are open to Southern California projects either certified from the previous year under any sustainability rating system or on track to achieve certification. The complete list is as follows (project teams at the end):
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION AWARDS:
Projects of the Year
- California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California Headquarters, Mary D. Nichols Campus (additional Honor below)
- Campbell Collective (additional Honor below)
Energy / Operational Carbon
Honor – California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California Headquarters, Mary D. Nichols Campus
Honor – [H2] Innovation Experience
Equity + Environmental Justice
Honor – Slauson Connect Recreation Center
Honor – LAX Automated People Mover
Health + Well Being
Honor – West Hollywood Aquatic and Recreation Center
Merit – Avion Burbank
Water
Honor – Campbell Collective
Sustainable Development Strategy
Honor – San Bernardino Community College District, with three projects:
- SBCCD Campus Envision Sustainable Infrastructure
- SBVC Career Pathways 2
- Technical Education Project
[Project design teams listed at the end. High resolution images of all projects available upon request. To take an online tour of all the SIA winners, visit the USGBC-LA EcoMapLA.]
The annual Projects of the Year embody not only premier green building practices, from a residential to industrial level, but reflect the complete spirit of the SIAs. The state-of-the-art California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California Headquarters, Mary D. Nichols Campus, which also earned the Honor for Energy/Operational Carbon, was designed to be a vehicle emissions testing and research facility for next-generation vehicles. Highlights include:
- It is the largest net-zero building in the world as well as largest onsite net-zero energy facility in the U.S.
- 100% of energy for all end-uses will be supplied onsite using renewable energy, producing an excess of power that will be used for the site’s EV charging stations.
- The building exceeds Title 24 requirements by 30%, increasing energy cost savings by 75% with this reduction in cost will lead to 100% payback for the solar array system in just under ten years.
- Some of the innovative net-zero energy strategies include a high-performance envelope; daylighting; on-site solar array on the building roof and over the on-grade parking; capturing of energy generated in test cells by AC dynamometers for direct use or storage in the battery system; decoupled chilled water and process chilled water system cooling; adiabatic / evaporative humidifiers; airflow monitoring system; and high-bandwidth Building Management System.
- Facility is sited optimally on 19 acres to encourage biking, walking, public transit, and use of zero emission vehicles to reduce transportation impacts.
- CARB is home to the largest collection of public art in the world dedicated to climate change. The community has access to visit and make learning about climate change a cultural experience with a main lobby mural by Noé Montes highlighting portraits of local residents and their diverse relationships around air quality and climate change.
- With underserved communities being the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the goals of this project inherently promote equity by developing standards that lead to cleaner air—a measure that protects public health.
“We were tasked with designing a net-zero energy building for which there was no existing benchmark and for a client who wanted to ensure that even with the evolved equipment and vehicle testing practices in the future, the facility would still operate as net-zero energy. Designing this project with layers of ambiguity challenged the Design-Build team to design backwards to reach net-zero. Now, after a year of measured performance, we’re proud to share the project is performing as expected, meaning this project is currently the largest onsite net-zero energy facility in the United States,” states theCARB Design-Build team (Hensel Phelps, ZGF, AEI).
The second Project of the Year is Campbell Collective, a 1947 single-family home in Los Angeles redesigned to achieve net-positive energy, water, and carbon. Highlights include:
- Energy-Carbon Reduction features that include water heater heat pump which provides cool air to the house; efficient HVAC with high-seer rating; food produced on-site eliminates transportation and refrigeration emissions; photovoltaic panels on house and garage roofs provide more energy than is consumed annually; existing building, no major construction or renovation; Red-List free materials were used for insulation in the walls, attic, and under the floor, and much more. The project achieved 30% net-positive energy.
- Water conservation features include solar-powered atmospheric water generating machines (capture humidity from air) is purified and sent to laundry which is then fed to irrigate landscape––it was also tested to be clean for drinking; greywater systems from the bathroom and kitchen also irrigate landscape including the 20 organic mature fruit trees and multiple raised garden beds; and sink-over-toilet provides reclaimed water to the toilet.
- Site/Community impact features include front yard fruit orchard for passersby with excess fruit being donated; owner-hosted community event for people to lead workshops in gardening, food growing for kids, managing a chicken coop, beekeeping, installing renewable energy, and bike tours to understand the local Ballona Creek watershed.
- In case of an emergency, the house could support resident survival needs per data collected showing on-site energy storage could maintain critical loads for one week in the case of an emergency. Also full portable freezer on hand (and portable power).
“Once you’re aware of the environmental atrocities happening today, it leaves you with no choice but to walk the walk and push the envelope as far as you can,” states Ryan McEVoy, owner and consultant of Campbell Collective and founder of Gaia.
COMMUNITY AWARDS
USGBC-LA also honors the ongoing importance of its community by recognizing that spirit in ten people or groups this year. These awards were selected by the Chapter leadership:
Emerging Leader Award: Alex Sassoon, Senior Project Manager, Studio Leader, P2S Inc.
Recognizing an individual who is still early in their career, but is demonstrating industry leadership in pushing us all forward to a more sustainable built environment.
Kevin Devine Award: Wayne Alldredge, Director of Energy Services, VCA Green
The Kevin Devine Award honors the life of Kevin and commemorates a leading green building operations, maintenance, or facilities professional who demonstrates the highest values that Kevin represented: true leadership and setting an example for others.
Environmental Justice Award: Stand LA Coalition
Honors an organization or person who has led the way in putting equity and the environment at the center of focus for projects and buildings in our region.
Corporate Sustainability Award: The Walt Disney Company
Recognizes a company creating lasting change through ambitious goals, policy, and action towards a more sustainable future.
Community Impact Award: Councilmember Nithya Raman, City of Los Angeles, CD4
Recognizes outstanding leadership paving the way toward a more sustainable future.
Partner of the Year Award: Climate Resolve
Recognizes organizational leadership and commitment to accelerating the transformation of Southern California into a more sustainable region for all.
Heart of the Chapter Award:
Cassy Aoyagi, Owner, FormLA Landscape
Robyn Eason, Sustainability Professional
Holly Hill, Sustainability & ESG Lead, Zoom
Dave Intner, Architect and Certified Energy Manager, Southern California Edison
Honors a USGBC-LA member – this year four – who has gone above and beyond in their dedication to creating a more sustainable future for us all and inspires us to keep doing this work.
All the Awards will be presented during the Green Gala, in front of a guest list of over 400 top industry professionals including real estate owners and developers, local government representatives, architects, engineers, contractors, agencies, sustainability professionals and other supporters. USGBC-LA works with anyone who is interested and engaged in collaborative sustainable initiatives.
Adds Stapleton, “We continue to be humbled by the support we receive from our sponsors and community partners to continue to grow our programming to address critical regional needs. We look forward to further impact in 2023 leveraging buildings as entrypoint to address critical regional issues around resilience, sustainable and affordable housing, water scarcity, energy costs, and ultimately the long-term health of the people of Southern California.”
The Green Gala is supported through the donations of many corporate partners: Gold Sponsors – Optimum Seismic, Southern California Gas Company; Silver Sponsors – Connect Homes, Howard Building Corp., Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Primestor, and ZGF; Bronze Sponsors – AECOM, Athens Services, Bernards, CalPortland, Catalyze, DLR Group, GAIA, Hathaway Dinwiddie, Leading Edge Consultants, McCarthy/CannonDesign, ROUX, San Bernardino Community College District, Safeworks, Sharpe Interior Systems Inc., Skanska, University of Southern California, and VCA Green; and additional supporters Greenscreen, Hathaway Dinwiddie, IQHQ, and Landmark Electric.
Significant Annual Support for USGBC-LA comes from these: Platinum sponsors – CIM Group, Optimum Seismic, USGBC; Gold sponsors – LADWP, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Company; Silver sponsors – Clean Power Alliance, FormLA Landscaping, Howard Building Corporation, Hudson Pacific Properties, ICF/SoCalREN, Kilroy Realty Corp., JLL, LADWP, LivCor, Lendlease and Verdical Group; Bronze sponsors – ADEC, Arup, Assa Abloy, Beneficial State Bank, BNBuilders, Bloom Energy, Boston Properties, Brightworks, ChargePoint, Epic CleanTec, Epic Metals Inc., GAIA, IQHQ, Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), IWBI/WELL, Momentum, Perkins&Will, and Tishman Speyer; with additional support from GreenWealth.
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The 12th Annual SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION AWARDS – Project Teams:
California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California Headquarters, Mary D. Nichols Campus – PROJECT OF THE YEAR
ZGF (Architect); Hensel Phelps (GC); Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (MEP Engineer); KPFF (Civil + Structural Engineering); Buehler Structural Engineers (Structural Engineer); The Offices of James Burnett (Landscape Architect); Vanir Construction Management (Client Representative); Dyson & Womack (Art Consultant); California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Department of General Services (DGS) (Owners)
Campbell Collective – PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Ryan McEvoy (Owner); Gaia (Sustainability Consultant)
Avion Burbank
Gaia (LEED Consultant and Commissioning Agent); Overton Moore Properties; Inveso Real Estate; HPA (Architect); Gensler (Architect)
West Hollywood Aquatic and Recreation Center
LPA (Architecture/Engineering); Rios Clemente Hale (Landscape Architecture); City of West Hollywood
Slauson Connect Recreation Center
Paul Murdoch Architects; Bureau of Engineering, Department of Public Works; Englekirk (Structural); MIG (Landscape Architect); Budlong (M, E, P, Lighting, FLS, Early Commissioning); VCA Engineers INC.; Cassette (Modular Prefab Consultant); ZC Sustainability (LEED, ZNE); Veneklasen Associates (Acoustical, Low Voltage, Security); offTOP Design (Design Cultural Research)
LAX Automated People Mover
Brightworks Sustainability (Sustainability Consultant); Los Angeles World Airports; LAX Integrated Express Solutions (LINXS) (Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) Contractor); Balfour Beatty (part of LINXS, joint venture)
[H2] Innovation Experience
Southern California Gas Company
PORTFOLIO (3 projects / SBCCD):
SBCCD Campus Envision Sustainable Infrastructure
McCarthy Building Company/CannonDesign; Fuscoe Engineering; Saiful Bouquet Structural Engineers; P2S Engineering; MIG Landscape Design; CSI; Southland
SBVC Career Pathways 2 (SBCCD)
DLR Group; Sundt Construction (CA); Brandow & Johnston Associates (Construction/Engineering)
Technical Education Project – San Bernardino College (SBCCD)
HMC Architects; SBCCD (Owner); EPT Design (Landscape Architecture); Snipes Dye (Civil Engineers); P2S Engineering; Saiful Bouquet Structural Engineers
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About U.S. Green Building Council-Los Angeles
Founded in 2002, USGBC-LA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to creating a prosperous and sustainable future within one generation. Our mission is to accelerate all aspects of sustainability in the built environment by delivering access to knowledge, resources, recognition and networking. Learn, Share and Lead Green. (www.usgbc-la.org)
