Earthly Ideas’ Sustainable Design Portfolio
Please click on the project name for detailed information on each of the selected sustainable projects below.
- Commercial
Projects
- AMC Randhurst 12 Theatres – Opened in April 2011, this Chicagoland project was the first AMC Theatre to pursue LEED® certification and became the first LEED certified movie theatre in the Midwest in December of that year.
- Three Springs Durango Neighborhood – Founded on the principles of Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), this 2003 master planned community also embraces sustainable development.
- Whole Foods Market Corporate HQ Expansion – The Environmental Protection Agency profiled this Austin, Texas renovation project as a construction waste reduction record-setter in 2000.
- Tesoros Trading Company – This growing company renovated the 1893 Wroe-Bustin house for use as office and warehouse space in Austin, Texas during 1996 – 1998.
- Whole Foods Market Corporate HQ Construction – This building served as the prototype for the City of Austin’s Commercial Green Building Program during its development from 1993 – 1995.
- Institutional
Projects
- Adkins Arboretum – In order to broaden its educational offerings and research initiatives to accommodate a growing visitorship on the Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland, the Arboretum is expanding and renovating its Visitor Center and creating an ecologically sensitive entry and parking area.
- Animas-La Plata Project Permanent Operating Facility – This 2011 support facility located in Durango, Colorado balanced the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings with LEED certification.
- Student Union Addition at Fort Lewis College – Opened in 2010, this addition houses the dining, serving, and support spaces for food service and is the third building on campus to earn LEED Gold certification.
- Erie High Charter School – This project welcomed students in September 2010 and was the first LEED certified high school and the first LEED Gold K-12 educational facility in the state of Kansas.
- Berndt Hall Reconstruction for Biology at Fort Lewis College – Daylit laboratories and salvaged materials were two of the initiatives that contributed to this 2010 building earning LEED Gold certification.
- Animas Hall at Fort Lewis College – Combining living and learning, this 3-story residence hall was the first building on campus to earn LEED certification in 2010.
- Bell Prairie Elementary School – North Kansas City Schools’ twenty-first elementary school earned LEED Gold in 2009, making it the first elementary school and K-12 educational facility to receive that designation in the state of Missouri.
- Durango Public Library – This project became the first City of Durango facility to earn LEED certification and the first LEED Gold certified library in southwestern Colorado in 2009.
- Staley High School – Completed in 2008, this fourth high school for North Kansas City Schools was the first K-12 educational facility to earn LEED certification in the state of Missouri.
- Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center – This world-class facility was the first project in Texas and the 50th in the world to earn Platinum certification for the LEED for New Construction rating system in 2008.
- Durango Discovery Museum – The cleanup, renovation, and restoration of the exterior of the historic 1893 Powerhouse in 2006 allowed the property to open as the Durango Discovery Museum (aka the POW) in 2011.
- George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center – In 2006, this African-American history and achievement museum was the third facility to earn LEED certification for the City of Austin.
- Carver Branch Library – This renovation and expansion project for the City of Austin’s Library Department earned its LEED certification in 2006.
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing and Student Community Center – This building received a record eight American Institute of Architects awards including being honored as one of the Committee on the Environment Top Ten projects in 2006.
- Austin Convention Center Expansion – Deconstruction Phase – This 1998 – 1999 endeavor was the first phase of achieving a sustainable Austin Convention Center expansion.
- Pickle Elementary School / St. John Community Center
- Industrial
Projects
- Ska Brewing Company – Opened in 2008, the new “world headquarters” in Durango, Colorado exceeded its owners’ expectations for brewing 20,000 barrels of beer annually during 2011.
- Balcones Resources – Austin – This 1996 renovation epitomizes sustainable development through the reuse of the embodied energy and material resources of the existing facility.
- Balcones Resources – Dallas – At the time of its completion in 1996, the largest high grade paper recycling facility in the United States contained a number of innovative “green” materials and concepts.



