PAE On Your Bookshelf

PAE's high-performing projects have been featured in several books lately, including Drawdown by Paul Hawken. Read on for the full list!

In our quest to build some of the world’s most sustainable, high-performing buildings, we’ve gotten some attention. PAE’s Living Building projects such as the Bullitt Center in Seattle and the Rocky Mountain Institute’s headquarters in Basalt, Colorado, have been recently featured in several books. We’re proud to see our projects making waves and showcasing the future.

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, Edited by Paul Hawken, 2017

This peer-reviewed collection presents 100 existing solutions to climate change, ranging from clean energy to land reclamation to family planning. Each solution is ranked on how probable it is to succeed based on current technology. Success means helping the planet reach drawdown, the point in time when greenhouse gases (the biggest contributor to climate change) peak and begin to decline. These solutions and practices present a hopeful picture of the future, full of practical and measurable opportunities.

The Greenest Building: How the Bullitt Center Changes the Urban Landscape, by Mary Adam Thomas, 2016

A case study of how the game-changing Bullitt Center in Seattle, WA was designed and built. The book tells the story of how the team of designers, engineers, and builders collaborated so effectively that they changed what is possible in the urban built environment. The Bullitt Center achieved all seven Living Building Challenge petals: Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity, and Beauty, and continues to operate at ground-breaking performance levels.

Awards:
2016 National Indie Excellence Book Award: Environment
2016 National Indie Excellence Book Award: Green Living
Finalist in the 2016 Foreword Indie Awards: Architecture

The Power of Zero: Learning from the World’s First Net Zero Energy Buildings, by Brad Liljequist, 2016

Containing nineteen case studies of net zero buildings around the world, this book presents lessons from the leading edge of sustainable performance. Using real-world examples and strategies, the book gathers data and ideas to encourage designers and developers in their own projects. PAE’s Bullitt Center and Rocky Mountain Institute projects were both included in the case studies.

A Whole-System Approach to High-Performance Green Buildings, by David Strong and Victoria Burrows, 2016

A comprehensive guide featuring two of PAE’s top performing projects, this book highlights the whole system approach to integrated design. The case studies explain ways of designing for the future, like future proofing and incorporating whole life value into designs. The studies also discuss technical challenges such as energy efficiency and ways to tackle them in each phase of construction, using tools like building analysis modeling.

Design Professional’s Guide to Zero Net Energy Buildings, by Charles Eley, 2016

Using specific examples from across the country, this guide covers what’s necessary to achieve Net Zero Energy for architects, engineers, and consultants. It’s an introduction and an in-depth blueprint for the industry, written by an expert with 40 years of his own experience. Through interviews with industry experts, the book details techniques and tips for creating a Net Zero Energy building in any climate, showing viable and cost-effective solutions.

Desert Rain House: Resilient Building, Sustainable Living in the High Desert, by Juliet Grable, 2015

Luma, PAE’s award-winning lighting division, provided expertise on this Living Building Challenge certified residence in Bend, Oregon. The book follows the design challenges and obstacles the team faced while creating a sustainable and regenerative house in a high desert climate, ending up with one of the greenest homes in the world.