AIArchitect This Week | Practice Zone Summary Page

December 21, 2007


	RK Stewart Walks the Walk at EcoBuild Conference In one of his last public appearances as AIA president, RK Stewart, FAIA, presented the keynote address on stewardship in the built environment at the EcoBuild annual conference December 12 in Washington, D.C. The AIA sponsored Stewart’s talk. “I had the opportunity to travel the world during my term as AIA president, and I learned many things, including that our biggest challenge will determine what kind of ancestors we will be considered by future generations,” Stewart told the audience. Green Housing Starts Below the Lot Oregon development shows that sustainability is about a lot more than materials and air quality The Pringle Creek development in Salem, Ore., uses sustainable community infrastructure to propel its first house into LEED® Platinum certification. Master planned and designed by Portland-based Opsis Architecture, all the buildings in the development must be LEED certified, though the architects have left building guidelines relatively transparent to encourage more independent evolution of the neighborhood. Recycled Porcelain Creates Sustainable Terrazzo Finishes Texas designer’s terrazzo comes from unlikely sources Architects are taking an interest in Plano, Tex.-based designer Tim Whaley and his firm EnviroGLAS for their terrazzo countertops and hardwood floors, recycled from porcelain toilets, sinks, and tubs. Whaley’s trademark countertops and hardwood floors, named EnviroMODE, also are getting attention in the form of awards from both the National Recycling Coalition and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and have been showcased at venues such as last month’s Greenbuild conference in Chicago. Whaley and his company hope to exhibit their recycled terrazzo products at the AIA 2008 National Convention in Boston in May.
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