A view of the Kendeda Building from the adjacent EcoCommons.
The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design is a multi-disciplinary, non-departmental academic building on the main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Construction began in 2017, with the building designed to be the first Living Building Challenge-certified academic building in the Southeastern United States.[1] It opened in late September 2019 and achieved Living Building certification in March 2021. It is the first certified Living Building in Georgia and the 28th in the world.[2] It was designed by architectural firms Lord Aeck Sargent and Miller Hull with 100% funding for design and construction from the Kendeda Fund.
History
In September 2015, the Georgia Institute of Technology received a $30 million grant from the Kendeda Fund for the purposes of building a green building on the institute's campus.[3] The grant was the single largest donation by the Kendeda Fund and one of the largest ever received by the institute.[4] The location selected for the building, a former parking lot,[1] would be part of the Eco-Commons, a larger public green space on the institute's campus.[4] The building would be designed to meet Living Building Challenge 3.1,[3] which, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, would make it "the first major Living Building Challenge-certified education and research facility in the Southeast."[1] Of the $30 million donated to the institute, $25 million was to be used in the building's construction, with the remainder used to "support programming activities."[4]
Even prior to completion, The Kendeda Building was recognized for advancing the conversation about green buildings in the Southeast. In October 2018, the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge presented The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design with its annual Game Changer Award.[10] In November 2019, the building received a "Development of Excellence" award from the Atlanta Regional Commission,[11] In October 2020, the Metro Atlanta Chamber selected the building of its annual E3 Award, which recognized the building as one of the region’s most innovative projects at the intersection of sustainability and commerce.[12] The Kendeda Building received the American Institute of Architects COTE Top Ten Award for 2021.[13] The COTE Top Ten Awards is the architecture industry’s best-known awards program for sustainable design excellence. Each year, ten innovative projects earn the prize for setting the standard in design and sustainability. To be selected, projects must meet the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) rigorous criteria for social, economic, and ecological value.
