It's always nice to hear how good companies are helping the world.* I've just learned about one to keep an eye on: Containers to Clinics. C2C is a start-up non-profit that's retrofitting shipping containers for use as health clinics that cater to women and children's needs in the developing world. Their prototype container clinic is currently under construction with Stack Design Build in Rhode Island and should be complete in mid-November.
This week, Envision Solar announced the completion of a 130 kW installation of Solar Trees — a Solar Grove — at Dell's headquarters in Round Rock, Texas. General contractor McBride Electric partnered with Envision Solar, who teamed up with BP Solar and Weitz Company to design and build the Dell Solar Grove. The Solar Grove provides shade for roughly 50 parking spaces and provides clean energy, too.
This is NASA's new Jet Propulsion Laboratory Flight Projects Center in Pasadena, California. Like several other projects we've mentioned (i.e., ENC, Susi Q Seniors, and Koll Airport), the Flight Projects Center was designed by LPA Inc, and it's a gorgeous building (see video below). Next Monday, October 26, at 10 a.m., there will be a ceremony and ribbon cutting to celebrate what is the greenest built facility in the NASA family.
Several months ago, we mentioned news that Studio Daniel Libeskind designed a modern prefab with the prototype of the prefab under construction in Datteln, Germany. That home, more precisely a visitor center with conference rooms for the time being, was celebrated in an inauguration ceremony on September 29, 2009. The Villa, a first in the Libeskind Signature Series of homes, is super efficient and uses minimal energy, despite its size.
By looking at these pictures, you probably can’t tell that an old, two-story, under-performing industrial building was converted into a beautiful modern suite of office spaces. The Koll Company hired LPA Inc. to transform the old facility and transform they did! (You can see a before photo below.) The LEED Silver building, now referred to as the Koll Airport Professional Center for its location near John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, is a fine example of adaptive reuse with new green elements:
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