The Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC-LA) celebrated its fifth annual Sustainable Innovation Awards last week at the Green Gala, “the Oscars of green building.” The awards, given in 13 categories, recognize energy and water savings, air quality, good design and community engagement. They were presented at L.A.’s Union Station in front of an audience of 500-plus members of local government, real estate owners and developers, architects, engineers, contractors and LEED professionals.

This Project of the Year, the LEED Platinum Pico Branch Library in Santa Monica, also earned the Water Efficiency Honor and the Innovation in Design Honor, and was noted for its dedication to sustainable water collection. (The library’s roof collects, filters and reuses rainwater for toilet and urinal flushing, which also impacts pollution.) Awards co-chair Patti Harburg-Petrich, senior associate of structures at Walter P Moore, says, “In our time of drought, and going forward, such water measures are an exceptional model. But to make this happen, the extensive cooperation between the city and design team stood out on this project by going beyond the political hurdle associated with gray-water reuse implementation. Kudos to all involved!”

“We received submissions of great breadth and depth, along with quite an uptick in the number of submissions,” noted USGBC-LA executive director Dominique Hargreaves. “This correlates with a recent USGBC study that found green building is outpacing overall construction growth in the U.S., with California as one of the strongest U.S. markets of green building and LEED certification, as well as resulting economic impact.”

The winners include:

Project of the Year: Pico Branch Library
Green Apple Day Project of the Year: City Language Immersion Charter
Green Apple Day Partner of the Year: LINC Cares After School Program
Energy & Atmosphere Merit: Pomona College Millikan Laboratory & Andrew Science Hall
Energy & Atmosphere Merit: Pierce College Library Learning Crossroads
Materials & Resources Merit: Los Angeles Convention Center
Indoor Environmental Quality Merit: BuroHappold Engineering Office
Innovation in Design Merit: City of Santa Monica Parking Structure 6
Innovation in Design Merit: Department of Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles Medical Center B209
Health & Wellness Merit: MLK Community Hospital Ancillary Building
Water Efficiency Honor: Pico Branch Library
Energy & Atmosphere Honor: Arbor Green
Innovation in Design Honor: Pico Branch Library