Building Green for
a Lifetime - Bruce Fowle, FAIA, LEED

By Stephanie Aurora Lewis and Brien McDaniel

Bruce S. Fowle, FAIA, LEED, Senior Principal at FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS, is very proud to have been one of the founding leaders in the sustainability movement. “I have been an advocate for sustainable design my entire career,” he commented. “I believe architects have a key role in creating a more humanistic and sustainable society. “Bruce’s passion for architecture has remained strong since he began working in the field 45 years ago. His first introduction to sustainable design came through his experience designing a half-dozen homes on Martha’s Vineyard in the late 1960s. His designs focused on natural ventilation in order to keep, the homes cool during the hot summer months. Although this design approach on these early projects was not “rocket science” as Bruce recalls, it began the learning process that enabled him to implement sustainable building practices in his future designs.

Bruce got an opportunity in the mid 1990s to build a sustainable building of a different magnitude. Working with The Durst Organization (developers), Tishman Construction and the Rocky Mountain Institute (a natural-resource think tank), FXFOWLE (then known as Fox & Fowle) designed the first, and still one of the most important, environmentally responsible skyscrapers in the United States. The Condé Nast Building in Times Square. “The largest green project in the country at this time was about 50,000-square-feet,” Bruce commented. “What we were designing was 1.6-million-square-feet!”

“Building ‘green’ on such a large scale was way “ahead of the game” said Bruce, “in that there were no formal metrics on standards prior to the Condé Nast Building that we could use to measure how green a building was. First, we developed a list of everything we could think of that would be environmentally responsible for the project. We brought in consultants from all over the world to advise us on what was feasible and how to achieve our goals. There was no single source for all the answers, so there was a big learning curve for the entire team. It was the commitment of The Durst Organization and the synergy of the team that made it happen. There was so much press and buzz about the project that it began to influence the industry even before the building was completed.”

Many of the systems and methods used in designing and building the Condé Nast Building have since been adopted by the architectural/building/engineering industries for green commercial and residential developments. All building systems and construction technology were evaluated for their impact on occupant health, environmental sensitivity, and energy reduction, making this the first project of its size and type to adopt state-of-the-art standards for energy conservation, indoor air quality, recycling systems, and the use of sustainable manufacturing
and construction practices.

The design team projected that the building would use forty-one percent less energy than a typical building of its time. Its energy usage reduction is primarily attributed to the use of on-site highly efficient gas-fired absorption chillers, photovoltaics (solar panels), two 200 KVA fuel cells, and variable-speed drives on all motors, fans, and pumps. The on-site power sources generate electricity at 85 percent efficiency, as opposed to 50 percent efficiency from the grid.

These initiatives served as a catalyst for the United States Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating program. The program is currently the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.

The break-through moment surrounding the Condé Nast project, according to Bruce, was during a three-day retreat where the design team and consultants discussed protocols about how the project would come together. They broke off into brainstorming groups, one of which was to plan what the team could do to make a 1.6-million-square-foot building environmentally responsible. “With all the disciplines at the table, it started to gel,” Bruce explained. “Very few consultants, installers, manufacturers, and suppliers were prepared for something of this scale.”

Bruce believes a key contributor to the success of this landmark building at 4 Times Square was The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). RMI is a non-profit research organization that promotes better performing buildings. Early in the project, RMI was given a Federal Grant for four pilot projects to receive funding and research support. The Condé Nast Building was selected to participate in the program.

The Condé Nast building won eight major design awards including the AIA National Honor Award, the highest honor in the architectural industry. Bruce credits the success of this project to the valuable interaction among other architects, developers, and construction companies with similar “green” initiatives and consciousness, and the support from the Rocky Mountain Institute. “We didn’t really know how to designate the building at that time, but we knew it was the right thing to do,” stated Bruce.

“We spend as much time educating as designing,” says Bruce with regard to advice for clients and members of the building industry. “With the incredible growth of a ‘green’ mind-set among our clients, we’re not always the first to bring up the ‘green’ word.” He adds, “There was a time when we would have been thrown out of the room if we had mentioned ‘green’ too early in the process. It is much easier now to find and create support from clients to build ‘green.’ The good news is that competition within the manufacturing industry makes sustainable building materials
less expensive and more easily accessible. We emphasize the fact that a LEED-Certified level really doesn’t cost much, if any, more these days. And, the economic bottom line is not the only bottom line – social aspects and environmental aspects are just as important.”

In 1978, Bruce co-founded FXFOWLE on the philosophical basis that architecture must be conscious and respectful of context and utility while enriching the human experience. His design leadership has shaped most of the firm’s recognized projects, ranging from high-rise, multi-use complexes to cultural institutions and private homes. Almost every aspect of the architecture practice has changed since Bruce designed his “cutting-edge” houses on Martha’s Vineyard, except for his vision for a more livable and sustainable society. Reflecting on current sustainability
issues and initiatives around the world, Bruce commented, “It’s all coming together now, and I’m very excited to be a part of this new green movement. We must all unify our efforts, expand our horizons, and apply bigger, linked thinking to effect change. We can’t afford not to.”