Banner Bank Building Nets Brownfield Redevelopment Award
The landmark Banner Bank Building has received yet another award for its contribution to the environment: The 2008 Phoenix Award for U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10. The award is given annually for excellence in brownfield redevelopment and is sponsored by The Phoenix Awards Institute, Inc., a non-profit environmental and service organization. With an application for the honor in the works for two years, the facility now will be recognized at the Brownfields 2009 Conference November 17, 2009, in New Orleans.
The 11-story, concrete and glass Art Deco building, constructed in 2007, has already been recognized with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest level of achievement. It has gained global visibility as a prime example of downtown redevelopment that significantly enlivens the surrounding area and is a source of pride for the entire community, said David Gibney, HDR Western Region Director, Sustainable Design Solutions. The speculative office building was quickly 100% occupied. Interestingly, even the Idaho offices of The Nature Conservancy located there, Gibney said.
The building sits on a site formerly occupied by a city parking garage that had increasingly problematic deterioration and possible environmental site contamination. While far from abandoned or idle, these conditions fit the definition of a brownfield as an underdeveloped property, Gibney said. The Christensen Corporation, a local development company, stepped in to set the wheels in motion for the construction of a highly sustainable, bright new office building on that location, with the help of various government agencies and designer HDR Architecture. The $25 million project was built with private funding.
In the project’s early stages, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and Boise resident, Ben Shedd, became interested in the project. His ensuing 38-minute film, “Green is the Color of Money,” chronicles the development of the Banner Bank Building and its quest for LEED Platinum. Available on DVD, the program is used to tell the building’ s story around the country and to rally others to build green. In the film, Christensen Corporation president Gary Christensen asks, “If I could build a building that is healthier and more comfortable for its occupants, uses less energy, is kinder to the environment, and yet doesn’t cost any more than a conventional building, why wouldn’t I?”
