June 1, 2007
  Gensler Achieves First LEED-Silver Auto Dealership
Gensler architects weren’t sure they could pull off their goal of a LEED®-certified car dealership. The complex mix of building types in North Texas didn’t exactly lend itself at first glance to the level of sustainable features that would be required to meet the designation. The architects pressed themselves to rethink the conventional methodology for building design and ultimately created a facility of practical sustainability fit for the business sensibilities of an independent Toyota dealership owner and the vagaries of Mother Nature in McKinney, Tex.

SmithGroup’s Renewable Energy Facility Achieves LEED Platinum
The SmithGroup-designed Science & Technology Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., is the first federal building to receive a LEED® platinum rating. The design team collaborated closely with the building users—themselves cultivators of renewable and green technologies—to achieve their sustainability goals and create a building that would inform the scientists’ research.


Copyright in the Digital Photo Era
The business and process of architectural photography have evolved rapidly over the past few years, and change continues. Not many years ago, professional architectural photography consultants required their clients to purchase prints directly from them, while the photographers held the negatives under copyright law. Architects could obtain multiple photos of their buildings only by buying them from the photographer. As National Ethics Committee member A James Gersich, AIA, points out: Things have changed.

The War for Talent: Is It Really All About the Money?
During the past year we’ve read the articles, heard the rumors, and fielded complaints from architects and engineers across North America: there’s a shortage of qualified new hires. Even if your firm hasn’t directly experienced this current shortage, you may be faced with the challenge of keeping your best people at a time when they have many other options available to them—both inside and outside the industry.

 
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Welcome to the Practice Zone
This is the home of the weekly Best Practices column, news of tips and tools that you can use in your day-to-day practice and case studies illustrating “how-tos” and “lessons learned” for all stages of practice. The Practice Zone also features reports of research in architecture and related fields.