Top green architecture projects on display

By Jeremy Twitchell

Monday, Sept. 22, 2008 | 10:59 a.m.

An exhibit of award-winning architecture on display at the Art Institute of Las Vegas campus in Green Valley aims to change the way architects and the general public think about building design.

The exhibit features the top 10 green buildings of 2008, as selected by the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment. Each year, the committee selects the top 10 projects built in the United States using principles of sustainable development in an effort to encourage environmentally friendly design and construction projects.

Instructors at the Art Institute prepared the exhibit to inspire their drafting students and to reach out to the public and encourage discussion.

"The goal from an educational standpoint is to bring in work from the outside so the students can be exposed to the work of professionals in their field," instructor Amanda Farrar said. "We're hoping to influence an entire generation of designers."

For the public, exhibit coordinators said they hope it will raise awareness of sustainable technologies and expose people to design standards and architectural styles outside of what they see in the Las Vegas Valley.

"I think it stimulates a dialogue here on what we should be looking for, because we don't have a lot of this here," said exhibit coordinator Lance Kirk, an architect with Lucchesi Galati Architects. "All we see here is stucco and boxes, from Green Valley to Summerlin."

Though none of the top 10 projects was built in Las Vegas — the Animal Foundation Dog Adoption Park designed by Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects in 2006 is the only Southern Nevada project to win an award in the program's 12-year history — Kirk said local designers and residents can get ideas from this year's winners.

He pointed to one award winner, the Cesar Chavez Library built in Laveen, Ariz., which incorporated a number of energy-saving techniques that are particularly applicable to a desert climate. The building is built into a hillside and has a large shade structure over it to reduce its heat gain while making use of natural lighting and a rainwater collection system to help its irrigation.

"It's a little bit more rigorous than what you might normally find," he said. "You have to submit data and actually prove how much energy your design is saving."

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected].