March 2008: Best Practice Awards Press
A feature article in the online magazine ArchitectureWeek highlights CBE's Livable Buildings Awards. The article provides a discussion of the merts of each award winning project, with numerous images, plans and sections of the winners. Go to the article
February 2008: Continuing Education Article in Architectural Record cites CBE's Occupant Survey
An article by Joann Gonchar in the February 2008 issue of Architectural Record shows how "postoccupancy evaluations offer a systematic process for assessing completed projects, pointing the way to better-performing buildings." The article, which is followed by a quiz for AIA continuing education credit, includes a detailed description of CBE's survey research, with examples of POE results from projects by EHDD, Stantec, and HOK. Read the article
October 2007: CBE Livable Building Awards
CBE announced the results of the first annual Livable Buildings Awards on October 18, 2007. This award is granted for buildings that demonstrate exceptional performance in terms of occupant satisfaction, resource efficiency, and overall design. This program is unique among building industry awards, as it is the only one to include the preferences of building occupants in its selection criteria. To be considered for the award, buildings must rank among the top scorers in CBE’s Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality Survey. Winners for the 2007 awards include the Global Ecology Research Center, the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies, and the Philip Merrill Environmental Center.
May 2007: CBE Student Researcher Receives Prestigious Fellowship
The Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program has named UC Berkeley graduate student Timothy Moore as one if its Fellows for 2007. The Switzer Foundation provides grants each year to graduate students in New England and California whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality, and who demonstrate leadership in their field. Timothy will use the fellowship to continue his current research on radiant cooling systems. The initial phase of his research was summarized in CBE’s Internal Report, “Radiant Cooling Research Scoping Study,” released in April 2006. Timothy joins Mara Baum, another alumnus of UC Berkeley’s Architecture Program, who became a Switzer Fellow in 2004.
May 2007: Case Study on Occupant Survey High-Achiever
CBE’s Occupant Survey lets building owners, operators, and design teams get feedback directly from building occupants, and the survey has been used in over 300 buildings. In order to provide an example of design and operation best practices, CBE recently conducted case study research of a building that scored very highly in all categories of the CBE survey. The building, the Carnegie Center for Global Ecology, was among the highest scoring buildings in the survey, and recently received an AIA/COTE 2007 Top Ten Award. Read the case study (pdf).
April 2007: CBE Director Edward Arens Named Campus Sustainability Leader
UC Berkeley’s Chancellor Birgeneau presented CBE Director Edward Arens with a Campus Sustainability Leadership Award. In his presentation of the award, Chancellor Birgeneau cited Ed’s “leadership in sustainable design and development." The award was given at the UC Berkeley Sustainability Summit, an annual event to recognize sustainability efforts taking place on campus. In conjunction with the summit, Chancellor Birgeneau announced that UCB would adopt a goal of reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2014. See the article on the summit
March 2007: Economic Development and Environmental Challenges in Asia
Clark C. Bisel, Senior Vice President with Flack + Kurtz, recently gave his presentation, "The Asian Century: Current Economic Development and Its Impact on Global Energy" to faculty, staff and students at CBE. In his talk, Clark explains how the economic expansion well underway in Asia will have dramatic effects in terms of energy consumption and global environmental outcomes. The impact of China is a primary concern, as its energy use is six times that of Japan, and 3.5 times that of the US, in terms of the energy used per unit of GDP.
Clark has given his presentation to diverse groups in the Bay Area, including the AIA and church groups, and is scheduled to present to the Golden Gate ASHRAE Chapter in June. His goal is to raise awareness in the building industry and beyond, and to initiate dialogue about solutions to this potentially dire situation. View the presentation (pdf)