7/31/2019 Green Warrior: Jim Coan, Hartford Business Journal's Green Guide, Oct/Nov 2012

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7/31/2019 Green Warrior: Jim Coan, Hartford Business Journal's Green Guide, Oct/Nov 2012

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is designing the Jackson Laboratory

complex at the University o Con-

necticut Health Center in Farmington,

the main component o the states

Bioscience Connecticut initiative.Sustainability in design is like

breathing or Centerbrook, said Diane

Harp Jones, executive vice president o

the Connecticut branch o the Ameri-

can Institute o Architects.

Far longer than sustainability

has been a ashionability buzzword,

it was part o the Centerbrook cul-

ture, said Harp Jones.

A Columbia University graduate

school alumnus, Coan began his

studies at Rhode Island School oDesign. While in school he says he

adapted alternative architecture,

solar energy, vernacular buildings,

and landscapes, drawing infuence

rom an eclectic group such as Frank

Lloyd Wright and Thomas Jeerson.

Its not just the sustainability; it

has to be a beautiul place, Coan said.

Coans upbringing was hardly

the stu o hardscrabble lore, but

his parents didnt quite get the al-

lure o architecture. He had to prove

himsel in order or them to under-

stand the value o his investment o

time and money in his youth.

Selecting architecture as a

career choice took a leap o aith on

the part o my parents, Coan said.

I was ortunate to have teachersand mentors who encouraged this

interest and helped pursue it.

Beyond Centerbrooks Connecti-

cut designs, the rms buildings all

over the country tout its commit-

ment to aesthetics in green construc-

tion, Coan said. The Mississquoi Na-

tional Wildlie Reuge Visitor Center

on Lake Champlain at the Quebec

border eatures large overhangs at its

southern aade allowing the winter

sun into the building but providingshade in summer.

Arpad Baksa, a Manhattan archi-

tect specializing in sustainability, said

many projects have pushed Center-

brook to the oreront o green design

industry. The Palmer Event Space in

Austin, Texas is a posh white tent-

topped venue boasting glue-laminat-

ed trusses and yellow pine, evoking a

pavilion-in the-park eeling. The Cen-

ter or Community in Boulder, Colo.

oers 30 percent increases in energy

and water efciency, earning one o

many U.S. Green Building Councils

Leadership in Energy & Environmen-

tal Design, or LEED, certifcations or

Centerbrooks buildings.

It was hard to select rom so many

noteworthy projects, Baksa said.Not all bear Coans stamp, but all

o it boasts his style, whether hes

been the project manager in charge

o managing the design team, proj-

ect architect, LEED administrator, or

sustainability advisor.

They are all designing with na-

ture and include sustainability strate-

gies on all o their projects, Coan said.

The Centerbrook culture is built on

beauty, realizing one o the frst and

highest uses o every building is fttinginto the surrounding environment.

Whats the use o a fne house i

you havent a tolerable planet to put it

on? Coan said, quoting Thoreau.

Green tip:Putting vegettion on topo cility green roo increses energy efciencyby preventing heting

nd cooling rom escping.