Awards of Excellence Winners Announced at

by Tom Mawson, Executive Director

This year's Midsummer Night's Green featured a new venue, lots of food, great networking and announcement of the National Capital Region Chapter's Awards of Excellence. More than 300 people came to the National Museum of Women in the Arts on July 28, to hear the announcements of the 2010 Chapter Member of the Year, Firms of the Year and Projects of the Year in several categories.

The USGBC NCR chapter developed the Awards program in order to recognize outstanding accomplishments in sustainable design and construction, to honor USGBC member firms that have adopted "green" practices into their mission, and to celebrate individuals who have advanced sustainability in the chapter's region. The award recipients were selected by a distinguished panel of leaders from the national capital region in various fields in the sustainable design community and development industry. The selection committee for the 2010 Awards program included: Karen Anderson, LEED Program Manager for Montgomery County Schools; Don Posson, Managing Principal of R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP; David Borchardt, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Tower Companies; Bob Fox, Principal, Fox Architects; and Rus Perry, Managing Director of SmithGroup. NCR Chapter Member of the Year Award: This year's NCR Chapter Member of the Year is awarded to Kathy Lawson, Associate with Davis, Carter, Scott Ltd. Architects. Kathy was nominated by her company for her achievements in sustainability. She is one of only 17 individuals selected to develop the LEED Fellow criteria; she developed and championed a program to get 50% of DCS staff LEED AP-accredited within one year; she is a co-chair of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks Green Building committee; and she is the Davis, Carter, Scott Green Week champion. Member Firm of the Year Award: The judges recognized two local firms for awards as Member Firm of the Year. Sustainable Design Consulting in Washington, DC, was recognized as Designer/Consulting Firm of the Year, for their work in developing USGBC and AIA education, and for their extensive internal green policies and advanced employee professional development. Member Firm of the Year Award for a Construction Firm was awarded to DPR Construction in Falls Church, Virginia for their committed mission of environmental innovation, internal green policies, company-wide tracking of their carbon footprint, sustainability training for subcontractors, and creation of the greenBook - revolutionizing the construction industry. Project of the Year Awards: The Awards Committee also recognized several outstanding projects in the region for a particular honor. The Committee presented awards for the best projects within the last year in the categories of LEED for Schools; Commercial Interiors; Core and Shell; Green Building Operations and Maintenance; Building Design and Construction; Residential Construction; Neighborhood Development; and a new distinction - the Industry Innovation Award. LEED Schools: Awarded to Phelps Architecture for their project, "Construction and Engineering High School," in Washington, DC. LEED Commercial Interior: Interior Project of the Year was awarded to RTKL Associates, Inc. for their project, "RTKL - Washington, DC Office." LEED Core & Shell Project of the Year Award was presented to James G. Davis Construction for their projct, "1225 Connecticut Avenue". LEED Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance Project of the Year Award was presented to Hines for their project, "Columbia Square," in Washington, DC. LEED New Construction: The award for new Building Design and Construction was presented to Schick Goldstein Architecture for their project, "United Therapeutics," in Silver Spring, Maryland. LEED for Homes: The judges also recognized Cunningham/Quill Architects for their design of "Charity Works Greenhouse," in McLean, Virginia for residential construction. Neighborhood Development: Recognizing the first award in the Washington, DC area for this new LEED category, the judges selected Davis, Carter, Scott Ltd. for their project "1812 N. Moore Street," in Arlington, Virginia. Industry Innovation Award: The judging panel awarded special recognition to Envision Design for their project, "USGBC Headquarters," in Washington, DC Honorable Mention - Schools (Urban): Awarded to Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects for their project, "The Schools Without Walls Senior High School." Honorable Mention - Schools (Suburban): Awarded to The Lukmire Partnership for their project, "Francis Scott Key Middle School." Honorable Mention - Commercial Interior: Awarded to HITT Contracting, Inc. for their project, "College Board Headquarters." Honorable Mention - Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance: Awarded to Cassidy Turley for their project, "Edison Place." Honorable Mention - Core & Shell: Awarded to Akridge for their projct, "700 Sixth Street." Honorable Mention - New Construction (Urban): Awarded to Mancini Duffy/Winstanley for their project, "Council on Foreign Relations." Honorable Mention - New Construction (Suburban): Awarded to Maginniss + del Ninno Architects for their project, "Gaithersburg Olde Towne Youth Center."