USGBC Maryland Chapter Announced 2009 Award Winners

5th Annual Awards recognition of outstanding green building projects, professionals and companies in the state of Maryland

BALTIMORE, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U. S. Green Building Council, Maryland Chapter (USGBC Maryland) announced the recipients of the 2009 Green Building Awards.  This annual awards program now in its 5^th year  recognizes projects, professionals and companies that exemplify innovative green and sustainability practices.  Congressman John Sarbanes and Goucher President Sandy Ungar gave the opening comments to over 500 attendees of the green building community at the awards ceremony on Thursday, January 28, at the Athenaeum at Goucher College.  

Acknowledged are projects and professionals who meet the USGBC Maryland mission statement to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live, work, learn and heal.

Award recipients include the Awake House, a one-story, water and energy efficient home with excellent air quality and low operating costs that serves four tenants with intellectual and developmental disabilities; Baltimore Medical System, a 30,000-square-foot building that received a LEED Platinum rating; and Health Care for the Homeless' 56,000-square-foot building.  In addition, the Young Professional award went to students at Harford Technical High School, which partnered with Harford Habitat for Humanity to build a LEED Modular Home.  After learning about the guidelines and parameters, they were the first high school students to construct a LEED Modular Home in Maryland.

"We were wonderfully pleased at the number and quality of nominations for awards this year," said Rex Wright, chair of USGBC Maryland board.  "The use of sustainable features in buildings, from the inside out, is increasingly innovative and cost-effective, and the submissions were each more inspiring than the next.  We are so proud of this community, and all that they are doing to improve the places where we live, work, learn, play and heal."

All proceeds from the Silent Auction will be donated to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Relief Fund.

The following recipients received awards:

• Homes: The Awake House
• Commercial Interiors: Baltimore Medical System Highlandtown Healthy Living Center
• Core and Shell: Schilling Green
• Existing Buildings: One Washingtonian Center
• Major Renovation: 217 International Circle
• New Construction: Health Care for the Homeless
• Schools and Universities: Evergreen Elementary School
• Un-built work: Woodlands Perryville
• Young Professional: HABITECH GB1: Harford Technical High School's Habitat for Humanity project
• Special Accomplishment: Greenwood Initiative
• Special Accomplishment: Stanley Sersen
• Special Accomplishment: The Athenaeum at Goucher College
• Special Accomplishment: Fairfield Inn
• Special Accomplishment in Green Development: Corporate Office Properties Trust
• Special Accomplishment in Green Construction: Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
• Special Accomplishment in Green Transformation: St. John Properties, Inc.
• Member of the Year: Zolna Russell
• Elected Official of the Year: The Honorable Dan K. Morhaim
• Board Member of the Year: Amy Wortman
• Volunteer of the Year: Tracy Marquis
• Volunteer of the Year: Heather Dalton
• People's Choice: 217 International Circle
• President's Award: David Pratt

Other entries that received special recognition are as follows:

• PNC Bank: Harbor East Branch
• 1414 Key Highway Offices
• 3700 Fleet Street
• Gateway Exchange Three
• Miller's Court
• Herring Run Watershed Center
• Old Town Youth Center
• SEED School of Maryland Dormitories
• Chuck Cooper - USGBC Northern Chesapeake Branch

About USGBC Maryland: A chapter of the U. S. Green Building Council, (USGBC), and 501©(3) non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices, our membership is composed or organizations and individuals from across the building industry that are working to advance structures that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. Members include building owners and end-users, real estate developers, facility managers, architects, designers, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, product and building system manufacturers, government agencies, and nonprofits.

About LEED: The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. There are categories of LEED for different types of construction.  The levels of certification within each category are Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

SOURCE U.S. Green Building Council, Maryland Chapter