San Antonio animal hospital earns LEED Platinum certification

Middleman Construction Company has built the San Antonio?s first commercial building to earn the highest recognition for energy efficiency and sustainability – LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project is the Eagle Veterinary Hospital in Olmos Park, Texas.

Through various measures, the energy savings at the building are close to 50% compared with a conventional building. Features include tubular daylight systems for lighting; solar panels generating more than 30% of the electricity for the building; three 3,100-gallon cisterns to collect rain and condensate water for non-potable use inside and outside the building; a majority of the building components were manufactured from recycled materials. BD+C

The editors of Building Design+Construction present 10 “Great Solutions” that highlight innovative technology and products that can be used to address some of the many problems Building Teams face in their day-to-day work. Readers are encouraged to submit entries for Great Solutions; if we use yours, you’ll receive a $25 gift certificate. Look for more Great Solutions in 2012 at: www.bdcnetwork.com/greatsolutions/2012.

Rainscreen system installed at the west building envelope expansion of the University of Arizona’s Meinel Optical Sciences Center in Tucson, with its folded glass wall and copper-paneled, breathable cladding over precast concrete.

| Dec 10, 2011

Energy performance starts at the building envelope

Rainscreen system installed at the west building expansion of the University of Arizona’s Meinel Optical Sciences Center in Tucson, with its folded glass wall and copper-paneled, breathable cladding over precast concrete.

| Dec 10, 2011

Turning Balconies Outside In

Operable glass balcony glazing systems provide solution to increase usable space in residential and commercial structures.

| Dec 10, 2011

BIM tools to make your project easier to manage

Two innovations—program manager Gafcon’s SharePoint360 project management platform and a new BIM “wall creator” add-on developed by ClarkDietrich Building Systems for use with the Revit BIM platform and construction consultant—show how fabricators and owner’s reps are stepping in to fill the gaps between construction and design that can typically be exposed by working with a 3D model.