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American Canyon High School – A Case-Study and Tour in Sustainability, Community and Education

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

QKA’s Aaron Jobson will be leading a tour of American Canyon High School on Wednesday June 29, 2011 from 5:30-7:30pm. Here’s the info (scroll to bottom for sign-up link):

Join your local chapter of the US Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects in celebrating the green design, engineering and community asset that is American Canyon High School.

This Napa County High School opened its doors in Fall of 2010 to welcome students and community to an ultra-sustainable and energy efficient campus. The campus achieved Gold certification in the US Green Building’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program.

The project boasts a 1MW photovoltaic station that provides about 85% of the electricity needed for the campus and a ground source heat pump that uses the earth’s temperature to help heat and cool buildings.

Did you know that the average school is 42 years old, and energy inefficiencies cost it approximately $100,000 a year? Come hear from Aaron Jobson of Santa Rosa’s Quattrocchi Kwok Architects and Costa Engineer’s Chris DelCore, plus others directly involved in this top project as they share how the building and design increased efficiencies, while creating a sense of community, supported career-driven education, and improved public access to amenities on the campus.

Tags: American Canyon High School, Architecture, California, CHPS, CHPS Verified, construction industry, Education, Green Architecture, Green Schools, Photovoltaic, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects, sustainable, Sustainable Design
Posted in News Flash | No Comments »

Creativity & The Kranok

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

QKA’er Jeff Howe is a passionate designer whose creativity spills over into his personal life. Jeff and his friend Ruby Bettencourt combined talents to create their first steel sculpture for Burning Man 2010. Since then they have become inspired to share their passion for life through the creation of Sacred Art and Sacred Space. Titled “The Kranok”, this piece was recently featured at Lightning in a Bottle 2011 and this past weekend at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa.

Tags: Art, installation, steel sculpture
Posted in QKAers | No Comments »

Lease-Leaseback Opens New Avenues for Schools

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Hot off the North Bay Business Journal’s presses, here’s an informative article on Lease-Leaseback delivery method and QKA project Ross School.

Tags: Green Schools, lease-leaseback, mark quattrocchi, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects
Posted in News Flash | No Comments »

Extreme Makeover: Sun Cavalry to the Rescue

Monday, June 6th, 2011

The Skin Cancer Foundation (www.SkinCancer.org), just published their national magazine. Check out the piece on QKA’s partnership with the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in this digital edition.

Posted in News Flash | No Comments »

Best Green Projects: Case Studies in Sustainable Design Success

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

QKA Principal Aaron Jobson will be a speaker in this webinar tomorrow. Here are the details:

WHO:
GRAPHISOFT, the leader in Building Information Modeling (BIM) software

WHAT:
Best Green Projects: Case Studies in Sustainable Design Success, a webinar hosted by Architectural Record and GreenSource, and sponsored by GRAPHISOFT. AIA members will receive continuing education credit.

WHEN:
May 19, 2011 from 2 to 3 p.m. EDT

FOCUS:
Learn how fellow architects develop and deploy best practices in sustainable design. Three architects with diverse and interesting green projects in North America will present their projects of distinct scales, illustrating best practices in achieving high performance design with exceptional aesthetic standards. Topics to be discussed include material and technology choices; energy-saving strategies; balancing aesthetics with performance; meeting and managing client expectations; attaining an eco-friendly building within schedule and budget, outcomes from utilizing BIM, and post-occupancy lessons learned.

GreenSource’s Managing Editor Jane Kolleeny will host the event.

GRAPHISOFT Director of Virtual Design and Construction, Kurt Ameringer, will kick it off and introduce the panelists.

Bob Miklos, Founder of designLAB architects, Inc. will discuss his IFAW World Headquarters project and his pragmatic approach to environmentalism.

Aaron Jobson, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Quattrocchi Kwok Architects will talk about American Canyon High School, and the importance of BIM in sustainable design.

Bradley Khouri, AIA, Principal & Founder, b9 architects, Inc. will highlight his “Urban Canyon” residential design and the use of reclaimed materials.

Tags: aaron jobson, architecture for education, BIM, Green, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects, Sustainable Design
Posted in BIM | No Comments »

Saving Lives One Pint at a Time

Friday, April 29th, 2011

We’re a firm of nearly 50, yet we truly have a family atmosphere here at QKA. There have been many times I’ve felt honored to be amongst this group of people. Last Monday was one of those moments. Organized by fellow QKA’er Carol, the bus from the Blood Bank of the Redwoods parked in front of our office for a blood drive. Carol reached out to our staff, consultants, local businesses and friends to honor our colleague Spencer and support his fight against cancer. There was a line going out the bus door. FORTY FOUR people gave blood and it would have been more if there had been more time. Carol said it best in an office-wide email; “In addition to honoring Spencer, his supremely positive spirit and his fight against this cancer, we saved lives today and THAT, my friends, is no small thing.”

Tags: Blood Bank of the Redwoods, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects
Posted in QKAers | 1 Comment »

Solar in San Mateo

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

QKA is working with San Mateo Union High School District to install photovoltaic (PV) systems at six of its high school campuses (Hillsdale High School featured above). The PV systems totalling 3.6 megawatts, will help the District lower it’s $1.1 million annual electricity bill.

This project was the cover story in Western Roofing magazine’s Nov./Dec.2010 issue. QKA Project Architect Nick Stephenson’s quote from the article says it best—”For QKA, it is gratifying to work on a project where the commitment to solar energy is the centerpiece.”

Tags: California, Education, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Green, Green Schools, Photovoltaic, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects, Solar, Solar Panels, Sustainable Design
Posted in In the Works | No Comments »

Raising Ross School

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

: Before – Flood Conditions

: After

Ross School is one of the most unique projects in our firm’s 25 year history. We secured an unprecedented $1 million in FEMA funding to lift a portion of the school four feet out of the flood plain. As the final phase of our work at Ross continues, here is a visual preview of what we’ve recently completed.

Tags: Architecture, construction industry, Education, Green, Green Architecture, Green Schools, mark quattrocchi, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects, Sustainable Design
Posted in In the Works | No Comments »

Ross Gym’s Big Beam

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Construction on the gym is well underway at Ross School. Recently an 85 foot beam that spans over the bleachers and supports five trusses that cross the gym was lifted by a 300 ton crane. The beam weighs 264lbs./linear foot and was 83.5′ long, 40″ deep. That’s roughly 11 tons!

Tags: Architecture, California, construction industry, Education, Green Architecture, Green Schools, qka, quattrocchi kwok architects, Ross School
Posted in In the Works | No Comments »

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