Nothing symbolizes professional success quite like the creation of a bobblehead likeness.
Obama’s got one. The Beatles have a set. LeBron even inspired one as a Cavalier and another to chart his migration to Miami.
It was only a matter of time before our own Chairman and resident “less-is-more” pioneer – Bill Valentine – inspired a similar tribute.
Bill’s bobble is actually a new award to recognize exceptional examples of sustainability in action. It will show up at HOK offices worldwide, honoring individuals and teams for tangibly advancing the HOK Sustainable Roadmap. Introduced in early 2010, the roadmap is a framework to take sustainability …
On-the-ground at World Expo 2010 Shanghai, HOK Global Director of Climate Action Stan Wrzeski is gearing up for the Monday workshop he will lead: Global Voice, Local Choices: Creating Low-Carbon Communities, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Here is an onsite report:
It’s my third day here, and my body is just starting to adjust to the time zone and high summer humidity. You wouldn’t think so, but the long lines of people entering the Shanghai Expo grounds are actually cooled by a water spray beneath the metal canopy. I suggested to Paul Woolford and Kelly …
Mary Ann Lazarus snapped this shot on her iPhone at the AIA’s National Convention in Miami last week. Pictured are Bill Odell (HOK St. Louis), Colin Rohlfing (HOK Chicago) and Wyatt Frantom (HOK Houston) who, on behalf of the hundreds of HOKers who worked on this amazing project, accepted the AIA Committee on the Environment’s “Top 10 Green Projects” award for the design of the LEED Platinum-certified King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Here’s the KAUST case study on the AIA’s site.
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These days, it isn’t easy to land a job interview. But Daphne O’Leary recently broke through the clutter to score an important meeting with HOK Alaska HR Manager Rob Pilkington.
See how Daphne fares in this dramatic depiction of her interview experience.
Any similarities to actual individuals – real or imagined – are purely intentional.
It’s been a couple of weeks since our last “best of” so we thought it would be a great time to check back in and see the hot workplace topics on Work+Place. Enjoy!
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Now that we’ve whetted your appetite regarding our workplace expertise, it’s time to share some more of our favorite posts from Work+Place. Enjoy!
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It turns out the 40th anniversary of the original Earth Day intersects with the 30th service anniversary of our very own Earth Mother: Mary Ann Lazarus.
We celebrated this sweet synergy with some delicious green and white cupcakes. Sharing guest-of-honor duties was the incomparable Joyce Saunders (MAL’s right-hand gal), who recently marked her own milestone (25-year) HOK anniversary.
This greened-at-the-hip duo has worked together to advance sustainability within HOK – guiding it from an intriguing idea, to a fringe movement, to a specialty group, to an integral part of our entire practice.
During a brief tribute, Vice …
Without question, Spring is my favorite time of year in Atlanta because that means it is festival season. For those of you that have never been to Atlanta, the city core is compromised of a series of unique and historic neighborhoods… each with their own brand of character and flare. Throughout the Spring, many of these neighborhoods host weekend long festivals for all to enjoy. This weekend just happens to be my very favorite one – the 39thannual Inman Park Festival! (and no not just because it happens to be in my neighborhood)
Inman Park was first developed in the late 1800s and has been coined “Atlanta’s First Suburb”. (Note …
There’s a great debate and short article over at ‘Off the Green Wall’ about whether the title of ‘Chief Sustainbility Officer’ title is a dying breed.
Check it out here.
What do you think? I know you all have an opinion on this one! 
You might remember a few months back when you heard that sometimes people mistake me and my Advance Strategies colleagues for telemarketers. Well, today, they would be spot-on!
A while back, I signed up as a member of the communications committee for the U.S. Green Building Council’s National Capital Region (USGBC-NCR). I haven’t done too much besides go to a couple of meetings and sit in on some conference calls. All that changed last week when the new chair contacted me and got me involved in marketing the RealGreen conference.
RealGreen is the chapter’s conference that fouses on “real progress and solutions to environmental concerns” and highlights “the region’s unique …
As advancers of sustainability in the built environment, we’re excited when we are able to move forward on a commission that seeks to further our sustainable mission. We’re ecstatic when those plans could help set a precedent for the federal government in the modernization of their building portfolio.
Cue the Excitement
On February 18, the GSA presented Mortenson Construction with a signed solicitation offer and award document for the Design/Build Modernization of the Byron G. Rogers Federal Office Building. A pursuit that began in August, six months prior to the award, it involved two phases – Phase I to show our qualifications and Phase II to present our design …
For all you chaps who didnt know. I’m also blogging (1 post so far) over at my friend Martin’s blog called “Off the Green Wall“. Martin is the president of Ecoscorecard along with his two business partners Paul and David. These guys are all around awesome, but I’ll save that for another post.
The important thing is that you watch this TEDx Atlanta talk by Gregory Todd Jones about cooperation and collaboration in networks and how vital it is to understanding this movement we’re all in. It’s less about cars, people, buildings and food and more about ourselves and communication.
After you watch, go on over to Off the Green Wall to read …
Robert Frost’s classic poem about the choices that we make in life says it all:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Having received an HOK All Staff email from Bill Valentine on Wednesday evening entitled, “HOK Sustainable Roadmap”, I assumed that our “Bill Valentine Presentation on Sustainable Design” scheduled for the following day (Thursday, February 25th) would be more or less the same discussion. The content of the email message articulated HOK’s commitment to our new Sustainable Roadmap which establishes sustainability goals, actions and metrics, integrating them into a clear framework to be employed throughout the firm. Bill’s email made it …
HOUSTON, TEXAS – The Green Workplace Booksigning Tour made its long awaited stop in the Lone Star State, after multiple stops in St. Louis, NY, WDC and Chicago. HOK along with Hines and Knoll sponsored the one night booksigning event which proved to be a lively yet intimate green evening. The event took place Wednesday, February 17, 2010, in the KNOLL showroom and in the lobby of the recently certified LEED Gold Williams Tower.
Leigh Stringer from Advance Strategies Washington DC, was the special guest to present findings and sign her book, The Green Workplace: Sustainable Strategies that Benefit Employees, the Environment and …
In the fussy, fickle world of air travel, the HOK-designed terminal at Indianapolis International Airport soars above the competition.
J.D. Power Associates has given the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal its highest marks in passenger satisfaction in a survey of 64 major U.S. airports.
The $1.2 billion terminal earned 777 points – the most of any airport surveyed – in airport accessibility, baggage claim, check-in and baggage check-in process, terminal facilities, ease of security checks, and food and retail services.
The terminal, which opened in November 2008, is the first “greenfield” U.S. airport terminal designed and constructed since 9/11. It’s also a showcase of sustainability, a dramatic …
Meet Teresa… aka Mother Earth. Well, maybe she isn’t technically Mother Earth, but she certainly channels her. (Just wait until you see here high school year book photo!) Teresa is a landscape architect with a focus and commitment to sustainable ecological urbanism. When she began at HOK three years ago, she sat in the Atlanta office before heading to Chicago and spear heading Land + Water.
Teresa is passionate about her profession and an example that it is never too late to follow your heart. When her daughters were both in elementary school, she decided to leave a 12-year career …
I found this article/slide show very interesting and wanted to share.
I’m not saying I agree with the statement that a “passivhaus is the real standard for a real green house”, BUT there are some great solutions.
What do you think?
http://www.vimeo.com/5133927
I found this website this morning about Sourcemap, a framework developed by the MIT Media Lab for individuals to share information about the locations of sourced product components and where their assemblies take place. I think this is a fantastic idea considering that individuals can start to take control of where their company’s source products. In 5-10 years, there will be no excuse for “not knowing” what went into that new bed, or that computer you just bought.
“Sourcemap is an opensource project that, like Wikipedia, relies on volunteers to grow and fine-tune the database. The hope is to develop a sourcemap for every product and service out there. It is supply chain …
Always a leader in sustainable design, today HOK announced development of a new green building rating system (look out USGBC!): Checklist for Gingerbread Green Homes (CGGH).
Developed by an interdisciplinary team of HOK’s finest (John Cantrell, Weronika Cichosz, JoAnn Brookes, Lori Selcer, and Julian Tablada), CGGH helps gingerbread artists create the greenest ginger-person homes. This effort was inspired by Toronto’s LEED Platinum house developed for Habitat for Humanity last year (featured on Treehugger, Inhabitat, and Notcot).
Toronto’s delicious creation followed green building principles found in the USGBC’s LEED rating system. HOK’s new CGGH takes green ginger construction a step further, examining the total process from ingredient …
If your holiday travel plans will take you through the city of Indianapolis, you’re in for an uncharacteristically uplifting experience. The Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport (the first from-the-ground-up terminal constructed in the U.S. since 9/11) is light, airy, dramatic, fun – and a showcase of sustainability.
During a recent visit to Indy, I brought along my camcorder and recorded some perspectives of the building and its occupants.
http://www.vimeo.com/7938311
If this is the future of air travel, I’m encouraged.
When I wrote about Eric Lewis my prior TEDx post, I was supposed to continually update you with video’s from the conference/gathering here in Atlanta. However, I’ve been waiting to write about the lecturer’s so that I could include video footage which was taken by Unboundary.
Ciannat Howett is the director of Sustainability for Emory University and has done quite a bit for the development of the way Emory operates everything from buildings, to courses, to social events. She is a wonderful speaker and you should definately check out this video.
I love it when she talks about the expectations of the students and reveals that it’s much less about Emory marketing, and more about Emory Education and defining …
Last week’s video expedition at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix netted dozens of Green Aha! recordings. Courageous individuals from Japan, Argentina, London, Saudi Arabia and all across North America disclosed their personal epiphanies, moments of truth and shocking recycling tales. Our booth crew (Julie, Chris and yours truly) was joined at the conference by HOKLife bloggers Nico, Niall, Colin and Anica (as well as a couple dozen other HOK co-workers).
Below is a short video compilation of what we gathered. Check out a complete selection of Green Aha! moments on YouTube and Life at HOK….
This is a report on the zero emissions building design charrette that took place on September 17. HOK and The Weidt Group participants in San Francisco, Toronto, St. Louis, Berkeley, Calif., and Minneapolis saved carbon emissions from air travel by using Cisco Telepresence Technology, Polyvision THUNDER Express, WebEx and HOK’s Advanced Collaboration Rooms to meet virtually.
The team designing the a zero carbon emissions office building has made lots of progress since my last ZEB post. With the final meeting fast-approaching and an affordable carbon-free solution on the horizon, it’s time to crank out some posts to catch you up on what they’ve been up to.
Finally, a Focus on the Building …
HOK has come a long way since making sustainability a core value in 1993. As Chairman Bill Valentine says in this new video (see if you can spot the Life at HOK bloggers): “We are not there but we are making giant strides.”
This is a report on the zero emissions building virtual design charrette that took place on August 26, 2009. HOK and The Weidt Group participants in San Francisco, Toronto, St. Louis and Minneapolis used Cisco Telepresence Technology, Polyvision THUNDER Express, WebEx and HOK’s Advanced Collaboration Rooms to communicate.
In this meeting The Weidt Group’s Chris Baker and Vinay Ghatti pushed the team closer to a zero emissions office building design by talking the group through a whopping 89-page Strategy Report describing the potential energy use, carbon emissions and cost implications of hundreds of specific energy conservation strategies.
The report documented the results of DOE-2 building simulations for each …
The New York Times ran an article yesterday highlighting the removal of a key existing building labeling program from the Waxman-Markey bill. The ‘industry’ is claiming that labeling the efficiency of existing buildings would be akin to pasting a Scarlet Letter on them. To paraphrase: people might choose not to purchase an inefficient building, might offer less than sellers are asking, or might ask for efficiency improvements before concluding the purchase of the building. (Gasp!)
Well, duh. That’s THE POINT. The labeling program would allow the market to demonstrate preference for energy efficient buildings, thus incentivizing owners and hopeful sellers to invest …
It may not be easy being green, but it sure as heck beats the alternative.
For the second consecutive year, HOK nabbed the top spot on ENR’s “2009 Top Green Design Firms” survey.
Published in the magazine’s July 6 issue, the ranking is based on 2008 revenue from projects seeking LEED, BREEAM or other environmental certification.
In the sector rankings, HOK emerged first in the “Education” sector; second in “Commercial Offices;” second in “Sports, Entertainment & Civic” and third in “Government Offices.”
Regrettably omitted from the magazine’s coverage were rankings of the most innovative, creative and downright zany …
A couple of weeks ago, as I was prepping myself for taking the LEED exam, one of our sustainable knowledge gurus, Seth Teel, opened me up to a new resource for studying: LEEDvisual.com.
Yes, I still had to use the reference guide and the USGBC Colorado Chapter’s Study Guide and Practice Exam, but this new resource is great for people who think in more visual terms. The producer of the content is unknown and the site could use a little TLC (gramatically and layout-wise), but nonetheless, a good resource. I’m not going to give it all the credit for helping me pass the test, but it’s definitely one of the …
As many of you know from Mike’s previous blog post, I recently got married. Before I jet-setted to the South Pacific with my new hubby, I eagerly counted down the days until arriving on beautiful Maui, the place I had always dreamed of going on my honeymoon. When we arrived, I remember thinking of the movie Jurassic Park when the island appeared through the clouds. (Later, I learned JP was filmed on the neighboring Hawaiian island of Kauai.) One of the very first sites I saw were wind turbines cascading down the West Maui Mountains. When I returned home from …
Our friends at Architect magazine have shaken things up a bit by entering the fray of architectural firm rankings. In true Architect fashion, this one definitely ain’t like the others…size isn’t even considered (GASP!)
“We designed the Architect 50 quite simply to promote a well-rounded definition of success,” states the intro in the magazine’s May 2009 issue. “The criteria for inclusion comprise a trifecta of critical goals for every practice: profitability, sustainability, and design quality.”
Although HOK didn’t nab the top spot, we did finish a very respectable #3 (bet you’ll never guess who’s #1!)
The magazine calls our firm a “green giant that boasts a …
