Mike Faha Wins National Award for Sustainability

Mike Faha has been awarded the American Public Works Association (APWA) 2016 Sustainability Practices Award for an Individual. The award recognizes individuals that have made outstanding contributions to promote sustainability in public works. Mike will accept the award at the APWA National conference in Minneapolis. This isn’t the first time Mike has been celebrated for his contributions as an individual to sustainable infrastructure. In 2015, he received the APWA Oregon Chapter’s Sustainability Practices Award for an individual. With over 30 years of projects and a career dedicated to creating livable, sustainable communities that balance economic, ecological, and social needs, these awards are particularly meaningful to Mike.

Pictured here, Bob Patterson, Public Works Director from the City of Pendleton with Mike Faha at the APWA Awards in Minneapolis August 29, 2016. Bob was named one of the top ten public works directors in the U.S.

Two GreenWorks Projects Honored by the Daily Journal of Commerce

Last week, the DJC held its 21st annual TopProjects awards to celebrate and acknowledge outstanding building and construction projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Two GreenWorks projects were honored: Portland – Milwaukie Light Rail East Segment won first place in the Transportation Category and Bend Whitewater Park (Colorado Paddle Trail) took second place in the Infrastructure Category.

These recent photos of the Whitewater Park show the new safe passage over the existing dam for many types of river users, including inflatable crafts and hardshell boats like kayaks and canoes. The park is made up of three distinctly different channels:

• the Passageway for people floating on the river with inner tubes;
• the Whitewater channel which offers whitewater wave features for whitewater recreation enthusiast;
• and the Nature Habitat channel, which is a special channel reserved for habitat.

In addition to the in-water recreational components, the design includes increased habitat diversity along the river by incorporating fish passage and on-bank habitat restoration, design improvements to McKay Park, and removal of the existing pedestrian bridge and replacement with a new, higher, pedestrian bridge.

Check out the City of Bend’s website for more on this exciting new park: http://bendparksandrec.org/bend-whitewater-park/

Westmoreland and Crystal Springs Creek Receive APA Award for Sustainability

GreenWorks recently received a 2015 National APA Award for Excellence in Sustainability in the category of Sustainable Parks, Open Space and Recreation for their work at Westmoreland Nature Play area. GreenWorks worked with Portland Parks and Recreation to replace an aging playground with an innovative nature play area at the same time that Portland Bureau of Environmental Services led a stream enhancement /fish habitat improvement project on Crystal Springs Creek, which is adjacent to and an inspiration for the nature play area. The Award recognized both projects for creating a new place that connects watershed health, human health and livability.

Mike Faha is Named A Fellow

It is always nice to be recognized for a job well done. But the most gratifying accolades are those that highlight work born of passion -- work that inspires us and of which we are most proud. Founding Principal Mike Faha’s passion is in creating livable, sustainable communities that balance economic, ecological, and social needs. This year, he was recognized with the highest honor in his profession for a body of work that spans four decades and defines his legacy as both a pioneer and innovator of sustainable design. Sunday, at the ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo in Chicago, Mike was honored for his contribution to his profession and to society by being named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (FASLA) for 2015. This great honor comes on the heels of another career milestone for Mike. In October, he was recognized by the American Public Works Association Oregon Chapter (APWA) with the Individual Award in Sustainability Practices for his contribution to projects that enhance the economic development, financial stability, education, safety, enjoyment, livability, environmental stewardship, conservation, and energy efficiency in communities throughout Oregon. With over 30 years’ experience restoring the health of urban watersheds, Mike tirelessly advocates for low impact development and promotes urban stormwater planning and design as an integral part of the work of landscape architects. His approach to projects integrates various professional disciplines in order to realize multiple-objective community design goals. To be acknowledged by his peers for the work that is closest to his heart is a tremendous moment in his career.

Cheers to Mike! This truly caps off a year that can only be described as an annus mirabilis for Mike and GreenWorks. With Gill Williams joining GreenWorks in March and numerous awards for our projects, GreenWorks truly has many reasons to give thanks for a wonderful year.

GreenWorks Takes Home Three Awards at the ASLA Oregon 2015 Awards Soiree!

Last Friday night, the Oregon Chapter of the ASLA 2015 Design Awards Soiree was held at the Multnomah Athletic Club in the Goose Hollow neighborhood. It was a festive evening, with lots of members from the landscape architecture community gathering together to celebrate landscape architecture in Oregon. Prior to the award announcements, Mike Faha was acknowledged for his Works in the profession and received a standing ovation for the designation of Fellow this year, which he will be officially recognized at the National 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo in Chicago, November 6-9. During the awards, there were 29 projects nominated for awards, including 8 student projects that were reviewed by a jury of three professionals. Winners were selected in the following categories: Award of Excellence, Honor Award, and Merit Award. GreenWorks received three awards including a Merit Award for Cascade Ave (US 20) Streetscape project in Sisters, Oregon, an Award of Excellence and the People’s Choice Award for the Orange Line, Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail. It was a special evening for GreenWork and GreenWorks would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of these projects.

UC Davis West Campus Project Wins Award

The University of California West Campus Improvements project recently received an Honor Award for Excellence in Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning and Design from The Society for College and University Planning. GreenWorks participated as part of a design team to create a vibrant and ecological residential village with streets, town square, greenbelts and public recreation facilities for this 200 acre residential development for the University of California adjacent to the UC Davis campus. The project team included: West Village Community Partnership (Urban Villages and Carmel Partners); SWA Group; Studio E Architects; MVE Institutional; Cunningham Engineering; GreenWorks; Teichert Construction; Moore Ruble Yudell; Mithun; Mogavero Notestine Associates; Lim Chang Rohling & Associates; Meeks+Partners; SunPower.

Mike Faha Among ASLA 2015 Fellows

Mike Faha, a founding principal of GreenWorks, was recently selected as an ASLA Fellow for 2015! Click here for more details.

Zidell Yards Recognized at 2014 ASLA Annual Conference

Mike Faha of GreenWorks  and  former GreenWorker David Elkin attended the ASLA Annual Conference where they received the National Honor Award for the Zidell Green Infrastructure Scenarios project.

The Zidell Yards Green Infrastructure Scenarios present a unique opportunity to develop on brownfield sites without causing harm to the environment. To read more about what is planned for this site, check out today's story in the DJC here.

Westmoreland Nature Play Receives Honor Award

Westmoreland Nature Play was recently recognized by the Oregon Chapter of ASLA with an Honor Award for design. We would like to thank our entire team for all their contributions. Thanks especially to Portland Parks and Recreation for their support and desire to connect kids with nature.

Pringle Creek is a "Diamond for Sustainability"

Check out this recent article by Margaret Buranen at Stormwater: The Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals about green infrastructure in stormwater management, featuring a recent GreenWorks project in Salem, OR! Pringle Creek Community is one of Oregon’s most low-impact residential developments, and as the first sustainable housing and mixed-use project spanning 32 acres of a total 250 scheduled for development, Pringle Creek is pioneering green initiatives in southeast Salem.

Pringle Creek is, according to the Community’s general manager Jane Poznar, “a diamond for sustainability” with its 7,000 feet of green streets, 2,000 feet of green alleys, and a newly ‘salmon safe’ creek (from which the community gets its name). Regarding stormwater, Buranen notes that Pringle Creek Community is also home to “one of the largest pervious asphalt street systems in the United States,” handling 90% of runoff onsite.

GreenWorks was responsible for collaboration on the design of the Community’s green streets and rain gardens, pedestrian pathways and greenway enhancement, woonerfs and public recreational spaces, overall landscape treatment and the Village Green open space.

The project was awarded the Land Development of the Year Award in 2007 from the National Home Builder's Association.