Brewery brews up green

Rob Smith is a principal at Architects Smith Metzger

Each year the Committee on the Environment (COTE) of the American Institute of Architects selects a list of Top Ten  “green buildings.” This blog post continues my series looking at some of the projects to see what is cutting edge in green design.

The Pearl Brewery Building in downtown San Antonio repurposes a warehouse for a mix of living and retail spaces. A very green move was to add a floor within the high bay warehouse to double the density without affecting the site.

The largest solar array in Texas covers the 30,000 square foot roof and provides 25% of the building's electrical demand. Kiosks allow users to see how much electricity the solar panels are generating and the building demand.

The project also addressed the amount of rain water that usually runs off of large commercial parking lots. Impervious materials were removed and materials letting water through were added as well as bio-swales and wetlands. This creates ways for water to be absorbed and never make it to the storm sewer. Iowa needs to do more of this!

The greatest visible idea was to repurpose many items from the brewery. Large beer vats became cisterns to hold roof water for watering the landscape. Smaller tanks became planters. Even old beer cans were used to decorate studio room doors. Rather than throw things away on projects, we can find creative ways to reuse them!

Next up are trends in sustainable design. Stay tuned.

Send your thoughts to rsmith@smithmetzer.com