Main Street Iowa, within the Iowa Department of Economic Development, retained CDF to develop the first training program ever to provide Integrated Green Strategies for Main Street communities throughout the state. The training program builds on the Green Street Pilot Project led by CDF in West Union, Iowa and illustrates the potential downtown revitalization benefits from an integrated, holistic approach.
 
CDF leads the team of nationally-recognized experts that are developing the program, including:
 
The program includes a webinar available state-wide, followed by individual workshops in 25-30 towns participating in the Main Street program.

Image credit:  Conservation Design Forum

Each year the Illinois Institute of Technology invites design professionals to teach a studio course through the Dreihaus Foundation. This year, CDF has the distinct privilege to teach the "Spring 2010 LA Studio 544 IV:  Site, City and Region."
 
The studio course is made up of a group of 14 Landscape Architecture and Architecture students who are focusing on site, neighborhood, and community-scale planning from an integrated, sustainable design approach.  The students are working on two project sites which include: 1) an urban brownfield mixed-use retrofit, and 2) a rural eco-village that includes restorative agriculture.  The course is co-taught by CDF's Lybra Lindke, James Patchett, and David Yocca, with guest lectures and critiques from Ron Doetch (Michael Fields Institute), Margot Mazur (Caerulean Collaborative), Doug Farr (Farr Associates), and CDF staff members Tom Price, Gerould Wilhelm, Alan Scimeca, Jason Navota, and others. 

Wisconsin Builder Magazine recognized 30 projects throughout the state of Wisconsin that "made a difference in their communities, triumphed despite tricky circumstances and introduced a new technique to the industry."  CDF was part of a collaborative team led by Gensler to design a major expansion and site renovation for the Johnson Controls Global Headquarters in Glendale, near Milwaukee. An awards dinner will be held on April 21, 2010 to recognize the winning projects, and each will also be featured in the May issue of Wisconsin Builder. CDF led civil and water resources engineering, landscape architecture and ecological restoration services for the project. The headquarters is projected to achieve LEED Platinum certification, and is registered with the USGBC.

Read the Award Announcement >

In the Chicago Architect article "Power Switch," (January-February 2010 edition), Farr Associates' Jonathan Boyer was interviewed about the conversion of the Sears, Roebuck & Co.'s former power plant building into a LEED-certified charter high school.  The school, which is in its first academic year, showcases preservation, adaptive reuse, community development, educational innovation, and sustainability. CDF provided ecological site design and engineering services.

Learn more >

Image credit:  Iowa State University

The King Pavilion at ISU's College of Design provides classroom and studio space for architecture and landscape architecture students. The King Pavilion is the first higher education building to receive LEED Platinum certification in the state of Iowa.  As part of a team led by RDG Planning and Design, CDF provided complete, ecologically-based landscape architecture and civil engineering services for the project. The design includes permeable paving, an extensive green roof, and bioretention/rain gardens - all part of the overall rainwater management concept.

Read the Press Release >

Lutheran General's new 380,000-square foot 12-story patient tower, which opened in 2009, achieved LEED Gold certification. CDF provided landscape architecture and water resources engineering services on a team led by OWP/P | Cannon Design, which also includes Gewalt Hamilton Associates.  Site elements include ornamental rain gardens adjacent to the main entrance drive, a cascading water runnel that leads to a public sculpture garden, a pediatric rooftop terrace, and a courtyard respite garden. The design encourages public accessibility to ornamental and functional rainwater elements that are both beautiful and educational.

David Yocca, CDF's Principal Landscape Architect/Planner, is honored to join the group of designers and writers serving as the Professional Awards Jury for the American Society of Landscape Architects 2010 awards program.  Each year, the Professional Awards program recognizes the best examples of landscape architecture from around the globe. 

Learn more >

The Green Streets Pilot Project, a green infrastructure/complete streets demonstration project in West Union, Iowa, has received over $4.5 million in public grant awards.  As the project lead, CDF is providing landscape architecture and ecological engineering services on a team including TeKippe Engineering, IBC Engineering, and the Iowa Department of Economic Development.  The team has assisted in obtaining funding from a variety of sources, including the Iowa's Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, and the Watershed Improvement Review Board. 

Learn more about CDF's grant assistance >

The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is recognized worldwide for its' outstanding programs and speakers that inspire people to healthy, sustainable living. The Institute retained a design team to implement a design approach for its campus infrastructure consistent with its restorative mission. As part of a major campus enhancement, a new wastewater recycling and re-use system was developed using an "ecological engine" with constructed wetland elements. The project includes a classroom building that houses a portion of the wastewater treatment system, and provides learning space in a setting with a didactic display of the Omega Institute's commitment to water conservation. Both the USGBC's LEED program and the Cascadia Region-Green Building Council's "Living Building Challenge" served as design tools.  The Center is one of the first buildings to achieve the Living Building Challenge certification.

Image credit:  Conservation Design Forum

A new paradigm in sustainable site practices is emerging - one that integrates art, ecology, and function towards the creation of healthy, inspiring places. This is the approach for the renovation of a country estate in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The master plan contains guiding principles which focus on water as a resource, renewable systems, and the restoration of healthy ecology as the foundation. The site program includes the gradual adoption of the property to the lifestyle desired by its owners in consilience with all the plants and animals that make it home. Site features crafted of local materials reflect the natural history and geology of the site.

Graphic credit:  Atelier Dreiseitl

The City of Ann Arbor, Michigan is renovating and expanding their downtown city hall and police and courts buildings.  The City made the decision to improve and add to the existing downtown site and to use green building and site approaches to guide plans that achieve the greatest long-term value for city residents.
 
In the site design for the Municipal Center, rainwater will be celebrated as a visible amenity as it is directed from the roofs of the buildings across the site to street-side rainwater planters and a large public rain terrace. The system's water strategies include green roofs, native/adapted plantings appropriate for the urban setting, and porous concrete unit paving, which provide both beauty and function.  Following the leadership of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission, the team is working with international water artist Herbert Dreiseitl on several components within the public spaces inside and outside of the buildings. Water as Art will provide a beautiful, relaxing element in this very public space. The art will also teach people about the importance of water, and be a reminder of the facility's location within the Huron River Watershed. Currently under construction, the project aspires to obtain a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
 

April 9, 2010
Unilock UniExpo 2010
David Yocca, Principal Landscape Architect/Planner, CDF

April 9, 2010
Green Infrastructure + Sustainable Urban Design for Public Officials + Community Stakeholders
James Patchett, Founder and President, CDF

April 14, 2010
Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture Lecture
Herbert Dreiseitl, Atelier Dreiseitl

April 21, 2010
Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture Lecture
James Patchett, Founder and President, CDF

April 26, 2010
Racine Kenosha Master Gardener Association meeting
James Patchett, Founder and President, CDF

June 10, 2010
Michigan Stormwater Management Seminar
Patrick Judd, CDF

June 10-12, 2010
AIA 2010 National Convention
David Yocca, Principal Landscape Architect/Planner, CDF

September 7, 2010
Oakland County Building Sustainable Communities Seminar
Speaker:  Patrick Judd  and David Yocca, Principal Landscape Architect/Planner, CDF

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