Christner Featured in St. Louis Commerce Magazine’s ‘Green Issue’

Bryan Sechrist rides his bike to work most days, weather permitting, to reduce his carbon footprint.

Christner’s new office space landed a spot in the 2012 ‘Green Issue’ of St. Louis Commerce Magazine.  The article ‘Greening the Region:  Making Sustainability Part of the Office, School Culture’ highlights Christner’s new space and its sustainable design features including state-of-the-art workstations as opposed to traditional cubicles; access to maximum natural light; use of sustainable materials and furnishings for cleaner indoor air; and new procedures to reduce paper use.  The article quotes Christner Principal Dan Jay speaking to the importance of ‘walking the talk’ when it comes to an organization branding itself upon its core beliefs.  Dan states that Christner’s beliefs pertain to “the qualities of built environments that enhance a client’s mission.”  Christner is targeting LEED gold certification rating for commercial interiors.

Christner wins Award of Merit in St. Louis Green Business Challenge

Christner participated in the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association’s (RCGA) St. Louis Green Business Challenge. Of sixty-nine companies that registered, Christner was one of twelve to receive a special Award of Merit for achieving the greatest gain in the challenge scorecard competition. Christner implemented the most sustainable business practices in their workplace for 2011. Christner compiled a scorecard of strategies to form a “green team,” reduce waste, conserve water and energy, improve indoor air quality, and provide clean transportation options.

Accomplishments:

• Energy efficient lighting has been installed in the new office that achieves 10%+ better efficiency than the standard office building
• New policy that eliminates workstation appliances
• Dual monitors for employees to continue to reduce office paper consumption
• New office stationary printed on paper with 100% post-consumer content
• Low flow toilets and valves have been installed (1.1 gallons per flush)

Innovations:

• Old furniture from the old office was donated to St. Louis Green’s Operation Food Search Furniture and Metal to Food programs
• New office has been LEED registered for LEED-CI certification and is currently tracking at the gold certification level

Christner’s Green Design Team:

First Row- Grace Corbin, Terry Crotty, Bryan Sechrist, David Coleman, Emily Wray

Back Row- Kelly Pimmel, Robin Ringwald, Dan Jay, Kathy Caldwell, Marilyn Sander, Todd Jacobs

Not Pictured – Kelly Duepner

“Targeting LEED Gold gave us a collective goal for the design and construction of the space. The Green Business Challenge kept our focus equally on the office operations.” – Dan Jay (CFO)

For more information visit:  www.stlouisgreenchallenge.com or www.stlouisgreenchallenge.com/images/totalscorecard_2011.pdf

Extreme Tree Houses

Christner designed and constructed two tree houses at the Missouri Botanical Garden as part of the Extreme Tree Houses exhibition.  A series of tree houses is on display through August 21st, each representing a perspective on sustainability and our connection to the natural world.

A “Living” Room In A Garden is made from recycled Christmas trees, in cooperation with the St. Louis City Forestry Recycling Program.  The “living” room uses a grand tree as its focal point, instead of a hearth or fireplace.  A wooded log enclosure, seating and play areas surround the tree.  Christner’s design team is  Rick Wimmer-Brown, Mick Schaefer, Ken Hoernschemeyer and Denise Buehrer,  along with Jay Behle from Waldbart Nursery.  Check out the real thing here.

House + Tree = PHI is the integration of an imaginative tree house with the formal concepts of Phi and the Fibonacci Sequence.  A combination of found objects and illustrative panels represent the many ways in which we connect with tress and the natural world.  Christner’s design team is Michael Antkowiak, Grace Corbin, Christopher Montroy, Robin Ringwald, Marilyn Sander and Dan Rosenberg, along with Ed Brimer from Engraphix.  Go here to see the real thing.

The TREEmendous Extreme Tree Houses competition is part of the United Nations International Year of Forests, highlighting the importance of trees in our lives.  Visit Missouri Botanical Garden’s website for more information on visiting the tree houses in person.

Want to create a community garden?

Laurel Harrington, Christner’s Director of Landscape Architecture, in conjunction with her colleague Laurie Harmon from George Mason University, wrote a handbook to guide the creation of community gardens for the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA).  Geared towards park and recreation agencies, the handbook is a step-by-step guide to create a grassroots community garden – from planning and fundraising through implementation.  Emphasis is placed on long-term project viability through thoughtful planning and stakeholder involvement, as well as the health, community and recreational benefits of community gardens.

You can download the guide from NRPA’s website.

Lincoln University Lays the Groundwork for Innovative Small-farm Community

Lincoln University has produced a video detailing the features of the award-winning plan for their Institute for Integrated Agriculture and Energy.   Christner worked with the University to create a Master Plan that meets their goal of addressing global and socioeconomic changes and challenges, with a focus on small farmers, families and small businesses in Missouri.  To achieve this ambitious goal, Lincoln University will create a sustainable small-farm community with housing for visitors, research facilities for faculty, a youth camp, a visitor center and farmer’s market.  An excerpt of the video is shown here – contact us if you would like to see the full version.