One of the great attractions of coastal living is a sense of closeness to nature. But over time, adding homes to such interconnected locales can degrade their surroundings — unless builders take care to address potential problems. Calling in the right professionals before planning begins can minimize such damage and, in some cases, even help restore natural features that may have been lost already.
Whirlpool Received the 2007 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award
Whirlpool will receive the 2007 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award for Sustained Excellence from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This award is given to organizations that have exhibited outstanding environmental leadership, while sustaining product and marketing excellence. This is Whirlpool's eighth ENERGY STAR Award win.
Evolution of an Enterprise, Chapter 8: Southern Inspiration
Oak Terrace Preserve is a 55-acre, environmentally friendly residential development in North Charleston, S.C. It is slated to have about 375 green houses, with prices starting at $200,000. Springfield-based theworkshop 308 has visions of a similar development in southwest Missouri.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two years ago, when the Noisette Company began its $3.5 million transformation of an abandoned warehouse at the shuttered United States Navy shipyard here, there were few takers for the 14 artists’ studios under construction.
Noisette Urban Alliance Member, Whirlpool Corporation Post Its Latest Social Repsonsibility Report
As a member of the Noisette Urban Alliance, The Whirlpool Corporation has just released their latest Social Responsibility document. Take a look and see how Whirlpool is making a difference.
By John L. Knott, Jr., Co-Founder, President and CEO, The Noisette Company, LLC
Lessons Learned: The Costs & Benefits of High Performance Buildings, “Noisette-Crafting the New American City”
In this groundbreaking publication, John Knott chronicles the evolution of the concepts behind the community-based planning process for the 3,000-acre Noisette Community, including the transformation of 350 acres on the former naval base into the Navy Yard at Noisette. Knott’s piece outlines the strategic process which led to Noisette’s unique public private partnership to revitalize a community through a socially-progressive planning process that fosters an economically successful and durable community, respecting the region’s ecological, cultural, architectural and economic history over time. Citing examples of sustainable thinking prior to 1950, Knott emphasizes that sustainability is an “old thing”, not “the new thing”, which holds the key to civilization’s future prosperity.
Congratulations to the Charleston County Academic Magnet High School - tops in the nation!
The Noisette Company congratulates the Charleston County Academic Magnet High School for being rated among the Top 10 high schools in the nation by NEWSWEEK. We are proud to call Academic Magnet a member of the Noisette Community in North Charleston, as this recognition depicts the ongoing progress of public schools in Charleston County.
At the Building Energy 06 conference in Boston, BNIM principal and Noisette architect Bob Berkebile told a packed house that the Noisette redevelopment in North Charleston stands as a leading example of how American cities can be designed to meet the challenges of future energy challenges. As skyrocketing oil prices and a growing awareness of global warming push the concept of sustainability into the mainstream, Berkebile believes that the human race stands at a pivotal point in history. In describing the role of design professionals in solving energy problems and climate change, Berkebile quoted Buckminster Fuller, saying that “the best way to predict the future is to design it” – a philosophy reflected in BNIM’s environmentally-driven designs for Noisette.
NOISETTE COMMUNITY MASTER PLAN RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD
North Charleston, SC (July 13, 2005) – The American Society of Landscape Architects has selected the Noisette Community Master Plan for a 2005 Professional Award. The Noisette plan received the ASLA’s Award of Excellence, the competition’s highest honor, in the Analysis and Planning Category. North Charleston’s Noisette Project was chosen in a field of 520 entries, including projects which received citations from locations as diverse as Barcelona, Spain and Seattle, Washington. Only four entries received the prestigious Award of Excellence in separate categories, and only the Noisette master plan was awarded in the Analysis and Planning category.
The city of North Charleston is undergoing a sustainable urban redevelopment on a scale never attempted before. Guided by a meticulous and ambitious master plan, John L. Knott Jr. has a vision to turn the Noisette Project into a model for the “New American City.”
Can a derelict community be transformed into a sustainable utopia? A visionary development company believes it can. And a$200 million building boom has ensued.
C harleston, South Carolina, is a colonial city steeped in tradition. Its narrow,winding cobblestone streets have been well worn by centuries of traffic; nearly every building in the historic district boasts a ghost or two. Charleston’scharmlies in its densely packed, architecturally significant houses; its made-for-pedestrian byways; its accessible harbor. Yuppies pay six figures for newer waterfront condos, and if you have to ask about the price of an eighteenth-centurytownhouse—well, chances areyou can’t afford it. Just seven miles to the north—and a world away—in North Charleston, bland, inefficient tract houses surrounding the former Charleston Naval Base can be had for less than $100,000. Here lies evidence of the mid-twentieth-century building boom at its worst: blocks upon blocks of single-story houses along wide, forbidding streets. There are few professional services, and access to the Cooper River—which drew lots of folks herein the first place—has been choked off by industry and a petroleum tank farm. This patch of fifty-eight square miles is a tale of booms and busts—and evidence of the glorydays remains. Liberty Hill, established in 1871 by freed slaves, is a walkable community of narrow streets and historic homes, many with front porches. Small churches dot the neighborhood. Unfortunately though, much of this infrastructure is crumbling; the area is badly in need of historic preservation. In the late nineteenth century,the city of Charleston bought a chunk of land along the Cooper River to build a grand public park designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers. However,in 1901, when the U.S. Navy came calling, the park was sacrificed to build the base. Much of North Charleston sprang up around this epicenter; the base employed tens of thousands at the height of World War II, but in 1993 the entire Charleston Naval Base was closed. Gov. Carroll Campbell called it a “nuclear” hit. The City Center district, which includes taller, mixed-use buildings for restaurants and shops, will be served by mass transit. Here, buildings will recycle water and waste materials and meet stringent performance standards.
The Noisette Project: Revitalizing a Distressed Community through Restorative Development
More than a trillion dollars a year is being spent worldwide on restorative development of ecosystems, watersheds, fisheries, agricultural lands, brownfields, heritage, infrastructure, and disaster/war damage. But most people are still largely unaware of this megatrend. Is it possible that a business leader could tackle the more complex but vastly more rewarding challenge of masterplanning projects that encompass all or most of those eight sectors?
