The Sustainable Buildings Consortium has opened registration for the second annual First Nations Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Communities, held February 27-28 at the River Cree Resort & Casino in Edmonton, Alberta.

At yesterday's Alberta Construction Magazine Top Projects 2012 awards ceremony, our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) won awards in two categories: Institutional (Under $50 million) and the new category, Sustainability.

Shafraaz participated in the 2nd annual Habitat for Humanity Presidents' Build, which brings together a room full of presidents at Habitat for Humanity's prefabrication shop. Hosted by Bob Gomes of Stantetc, the group worked together building walls, decks and stairs, and learning about the sustainable Habitat program.

Last night, members of the Manasc Isaac team headed over to Sunterra Market in Commerce Place, to participate in a program called Soup Sisters.

Walking by our studio today, you might notice white sheets draped in the trees along our sidewalk. Come closer, and you'll notice that inside the sheet structure sits a white couch, lanterns, music playing and steaming hot chocolate being served.

Yesterday, members of the Manasc Isaac team took a trip up to Slave Lake. Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee, members of Council and several Town of Slave Lake employees were happy to see the great progress that is being made on the Slave Lake Government Centre rebuild!

We're very excited to share that we will be designing a new building for Gilead Alberta (a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, Inc.) in Edmonton's North East corner.

From the news release: "Gilead is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapeutics in areas of unmet medical need. The company’s mission is to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases worldwide. Headquartered in Foster City, California, Gilead has operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific."

The Manasc Isaac team took part in Edmonton's River City Round Up again this year! We served up some Dustbowl Chili at the Manasc Isaac Saloon to kick off a 10-day celebration of Edmonton’s agriculture and western heritage.

You've already met Safira and Tara, our students who recently won Peter Kageyama's $500 Challenge; well, now their project is becoming reality! Their concept of a fort-building installation has become ComFORT Downtown Edmonton, a project consisting of a series of pop-up forts that you will see appearing in various locations across the core during the month of November.

One of our projects, Leismer Lodge (which became LEED certified earlier this year) has been covered by the Edmonton Journal!

A model of sustainability and in alignment with our client Statoil's corporate social responsibility approach, Leismer Lodge represents an exceptional example of how comfortable housing can be in oilsands' labour camps.

Today, Shafraaz is moderating a breakout session at this year's Infrastructure Partners Conference, an annual event that brings together the engineering, architectural and construction worlds for important conversations on topics of common inter­est. The goal of this event is to develop common solutions, recognize excellence and build networks.

Manasc Isaac joins Todd Babiak's conversation in Make Something Edmonton..

Click HERE to check out the story!

Today we had the pleasure of participating at the award ceremony for the City of Edmonton's Small Business Eco Challenge, program that celebrates excellence in green operations by the city's small businesses. 

The October 2012 issue of Canadian Architect contains a feature by Shafraaz Kaba and Kent McKay, who helped to organize the inaugural First Nations Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Communities in 2012.

Thanks to Western Living Magazine for capturing this video footage! Vivian Manasc accepting Manasc Isaac's "Designer of the Year (Eco Category)" award in Vancouver in September 2012.

Check out the 1:10 mark.

We are honoured to have been selected as winners in the 2012 Small Business Eco Challenge, a City of Edmonton award program that celebrates the environmental achievements of small businesses. 

Inspired by Peter Kageyama's For the Love of Cities presentation at Grant MacEwan University last Friday, Manasc Isaac students Tara McCashin and Safira Lakhani were awarded $500 to implement their "Fort-Building Installation" concept in downtown Edmonton. Tara and Safira collaborated with three other participants to come up with a proposal that would reinvigorate Edmonton as a more livable and loveable city, with a tiny budget of $500.

Video footage of Athabasca University's Academic Research Centre has been captured by an iPad-controlled AR Drone helicopter!

We are thrilled to announce that Manasc Isaac has won Western Living magazine's Designer of the Year award in the Eco Design category!

Manasc Isaac is happy to sponsor "Culture: Bringing Soul and the Sacred to Sustainable Design."

Part of the University of Alberta's Department of Art & Design Fall 2012 lecture series, the event will brings Donna Morton, CEO and co-founder of First Power, back to Edmonton (in February of 2012 Donna presented at our First Nations Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Communities). First Power's work explores the connections between First Nation traditions, teaching and innovative technologies.

On August 28-30, Edmonton will host the 2012 Canadian Capital Cities Organization Conference. This event will highlight the contributions and unique partnerships among businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments and the Alberta Legislative Assembly in making Edmonton a dynamic capital city!

Shafraaz Kaba will be the keynote speaker at this year's Student Conference, "The Student Element."

Held at City Hall on August 23 2012, the Conference will feature a host of speakers exploring topics in Transportation, Urban Planning and Environment, Current Planning and Sustainability. The Conference is open to the public, and will take place between 8:30am - 4:30pm.

Since kicking off patio season with June's Summer Solstice Party, Manasc Isaac has been putting our new rooftop patio to work almost every day! No wonder, given its spectacular views of the lush River Valley and Edmonton's downtown core. Lined with flowers, vegetables and herbs, the space is a peaceful retreat steps away from the heart of the city.

The New Cambridge Lofts penthouse has been featured in Dwell magazine's "Houses We Love" in the September 2012 issue!

Our reimagine initiative was featured in the August 2012 issue of Downtown Idea Exchange, a publication devoted to "ideas, insights, and solid information on downtown revitalization."

Vivian Manasc's Green Building Champion Award, which we wrote about in June has been featured in the Canada Green Building Council (Alberta Chapter) Perspectives newsletter!

"The Green Building Champion award is important in that is should inspire the next generation of leaders to reach for the accomplishment and success that we have had in designing and constructing truly sustainable buildings and communities," said Vivian. " The legacy of this award should be an increasing number of architects and green building leaders who have the courage to try innovative sustainable design solutions."

Beverly Heights House has been profiled in the Edmonton Journal's "My House Beautiful" feature.

Desgined and occupied by Manasc Isaac architect Shafraaz Kaba, Beverly Heights House is an exceptional piece of Edmonton architecture. The design combines contempary aesthetics with innovative energy efficiency solutions, creative re-use of materials and passive solar strategies that make this house net zero ready.

Manasc Isaac has been shortlisted for a Western Living Magazine's Designer of the Year award in the Green Design category! The Western Living Designers of the Year awards celebrate the best new design in Western Canada, as judged by Canada's foremost designers and architects. Winners will be announced in the September issue. Stay tuned!

Vivian Manasc has been inducted in the Order of Athabasca University, along with the other members of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Centre for Architecture Development group, for their advocacy and promotion of the AU Architecture Program and their contributions to its development.

Edmonton is currently experiencing a heat wave; the long days of July have increased the city's demand on electricity and air conditioning, and as a result several rolling blackouts have occurred this week.

Our 2nd Annual Blue Sky Award (and the Summer Solstice Celebration at which the award ceremony took place) has been covered by several news outlets this week.

The winner(s) of Manasc Isaac's 2nd Annual Blue Sky Award were revealed on June 22, at our Summer Solstice Celebration!

The Alberta non-profit organization that will receive $10,000 in consulting time from Manasc Isaac is the Canadian Paraplegic Association (Alberta), of Edmonton!

Join us on Friday, June 22 at 5:00pm for a Summer Solstice Celebration like no other! To commemorate our firm's 15th anniversary, we'll be taking in the view from our brand new rooftop patio, and enjoying good food and refreshments while experiencing entertainment by in-house talent.

Tomorrow, our own Shafraaz Kaba will be speaking at the 3rd Annual Calgary Sustainabuild Conference, Western Canada's premier conference focusing on sustainable buildings and communities of all types!

On June 13 2012, a LEED® commissioning ceremony was held at Leismer Lodge, a housing complex for Statoil workers in Conklin AB!

Completed in February of 2009, Leismer Lodge exemplifies Statoil's commitment to "reduce the negative impact of [their] activities and products on the environment."

Our very own Shafraaz Kaba was interviewed by the Edmonton Journal in an article published today, discussing what we have seen to date of the proposed downtown arena design.

Check out the full interview and Shafraaz's thoughts on the design!

Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has honoured Manasc Isaac's Vivian Manasc with the prestigious “CaGBC Green Building Champion” Award, recognizing two decades of commitment to sustainable architecture! The award was presented in Toronto at CaGBC’s National Conference & Expo on June 12, 2012.

This Wednesday, June 6, Manasc Isaac is participating in the first-ever Eco Solar Commercial Tour!

Drop by anytime between 11:00am and 3:00pm to check out our snazzy solar sunshades, and many other features along the way. On site will be Randall Benson of Off the Grid, who installed the solar panels, and Laryssa Warne of Bullfrog Power, who provides our office with clean energy!

The end of May has arrived and there are only 3 days left until the closing date for Manasc Isaac’s 2^nd Annual Blue Sky Award!

Founded in 2011, this award was created to empower Alberta non-profit organizations to realize their dream projects. The winning organization will receive $10,000 to put toward the creation of a conceptual design or a feasibility study to help improve their facility and secure funding to execute the project!

Shafraaz Kaba will be speaking at  the Food in the City conference, a celebration of the innovative and groundbreaking work being done in our city to help build a resilient local food system. Food in the City is an opportunity for Edmontonians to participate in a conversation about the future of food and agriculture in Edmonton.

On May 15 of 2011, a devastating fire ravaged the town of Slave Lake in Northern Alberta. As thousands of people fled the town, the flames consumed everything in their path, including over 500 homes and businesses. Although no casualties were reported amongst Slave Lake's population, a French pilot was killed while retrieving water from Lesser Slave Lake. The community was changed forever.

Over the weekend, a group of Manasc Isaac employees headed to Enterprise Square in downtown Edmonton to participate in Canstruction Edmonton 2012. This year's sculpture (made almost entirely out of cans) is called the I'm-Full Tower. Like its French namesake, the piece is rich in iron, and is quite a sight to behold! This year we received an honorable mention at the Canstruction Edmonton awards ceremony!

We are happy to announce that Vivian Manasc will be honoured with the Canada Green Building Council's Green Building Champion Award, which honours contributions made toward the CaGBC's mission and goals of accelerating green buildings in Canada.

Athabasca University's Academic Research Centre is the cover story in the current (Alberta Focus) issue of SAB Magazine.

We were happy to celebrate and discuss this exciting project with Canada Green Building Council!

We are honoured to have won the Alberta's Best Workplaces award for Best Workplace for the Environmentally Conscious! Kent McKay accepted the award at the event hosted by Alberta Venture on April 30th at Edmonton's Matrix Hotel.

Manasc Isaac is pleased to be opening our doors to the public on June 6, 2012, to show off a few of our office's green features! As part of the 2012 Eco Solar Commercial Tour, we will be raising awareness about sustainable choices for commercial buildings.

Manasc Isaac and Bing Thom Architects (Vancouver) have begun collaborating with MacEwan University on the recently-annouced Cultural Arts and Communications Centre! The facility will house the programs currently located at its Centre for the Arts and Communications campus.

The Manasc Isaac office is looking a lot greener this week, after team members adopted 24 new desk plants for their workspaces.

For a donation (which will be given to the Bissell Centre), participating staff were able to get a little dirt beneath their fingernails on Monday afternoon, potting a plant of their choice.

With the advent of Edmonton's first days of warm weather, the Manasc Isaac team was itching to get outside and clean up our neighbourhood!

As part of our commitment to Capital City Cleanup, we spent part of our morning picking up trash from our surrounding neighbourhood. It's great to see the space sparkling and litter-free!

At this time last year, the Manasc Isaac office experienced some reimagining at its home in the Oliver Building, by way of installing solar sunshades on our south wall. Since then, these photovoltaic panels have been helping to provide our building with green power, harnessing solar energy provided by the generous amount of sunlight our south-facing wall receives during the day.

Manasc Isaac is thrilled to announce the second annual Blue Sky Award!

Last year, we received over 25 entries from Albertan not-for-profit organizations, sharing their dream projects that they would like to see turned into reality. Manasc Isaac donated $10,000 of consulting time toward the creation of a conceptual design or feasibility study for the winning organization. In fact, last year's entries were so compelling, we chose three winners!

Vivian Manasc's creative adaptive reuse and transformation of a mechanical room into a penthouse continues to attract attention from members of the community.

Local photographer Darren Kirby took this fascinating shot of the penthouse and has uploaded it HERE on Flickr.

MacEwan University has selected Manasc Isaac and Bing Thom Architects (Vancouver), to design its new Cultural Arts and Communications Centre. The facility will house the programs currently located at its Centre for the Arts and Communications campus.

Shafraaz Kaba will be speaking at the 3rd Annual Calgary Sustainabuild Conference, held on June 19, 2012. Sustainabuild is Western Canada's premier conference focusing on sustainable buildings and communities of all types.

The recently-completed penthouse at the New Cambridge Lofts, which just so happens to be designed by (and occupied by) Vivian Manasc, is featured on the Edmonton Journal [link expired] website today.

Vivian Manasc will be moderating the Buildex Industry Keynote Panel on Tuesday, March 20, from 8:30am - 10:00am.

We are happy to announce that Manasc Isaac has been announced as a finalist for Alberta Venture Magazine’s Alberta’s Best Workplaces 2012 Awards! The category for which we have been shortlisted is Best Workplace for the Environment. 2012 marks the third year in a row that Manasc Isaac has been shortlisted for the Alberta’s Best Workplaces awards, and we couldn’t be more pleased.

Last week, Vivian Manasc co-chaired the inaugural First Nations Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Communities! Check out her interview with APTN by clicking HERE (the interview appears at around the 20:00 mark).

This week, Shafraaz Kaba and Matt McCombe, both of Manasc Isaac Architects, appeared on Terra Informa, a weekly environmental news program covering issues from across Canada & around the world.

Shafraaz Kaba will be moderating a panel for the Solar Energy Society of Alberta, called "Net Zero Energy Buildings – How Are They Working?" on February 22, 2012 at the Grant MacEwan University CN Theatre (Room 5-142).

The full episode of David Suzuki's "The Nature of Things," featuring an appearance by our very own Shafraaz Kaba, is now available for online viewing. Click HERE to watch the episode, titled "Future City."

Tune in to Dr. David Suzuki's The Nature of Things this week to see Manasc Isaac's very own Shafraaz Kaba make an appearance!

Airing on Thursday (February 16) at 8:00pm on CBC, the episode features Suzuki's trip to Edmonton. From the episode description:

Vivian Manasc will be moderating the keynote panel at the 6th annual BUILDEX Edmonton Conference. The Conference runs March 20 & 21, 2012 and will be held at the Edmonton Expo Centre, at Northlands.

CBC dropped by the Manasc Isaac office this week to interview Ian O'Donnell and get his perspective on the recently-released concept art for Edmonton's proposed downtown arena.

Our very own Josh Johnson and Kent McKay participated in a discussion with Edmonton Economic Development Council (EEDC) about downtown revitalization in Edmonton, and what it is like to live/work downtown. These videos were debuted at EEDC's inaugural "I <3 YEGDT: Downtown X-posed" festival.

Last summer, the Manasc Isaac office benefited from the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels that also function as sunshades. They were installed on the south side of our building, which receives a generous amount of sunlight during the day.

Manasc Isaac is proud to announce that Leismer Lodge was awarded LEED^® certification today, by the Canada Green Building Council.  Congratulations to the Leismer Lodge team!

Manasc Isaac continues its committment to Edmonton’s newest celebration of winter culture, Metropolis.

On January 26, 2012, join Nextgen at Metropolis for a Pecha Kucha celebration, including a talk by Manasc Isaac's Shafraaz Kaba! Pecha Kucha Nights have become one of Edmonton’s NextGen’s most popular and enduring public events. Japanese for the phrase “the sound of chitchat”, Pecha Kucha Nights feature presentations on local ideas, projects and musings in the 20 slides x 20 second per slide format made popular world-wide by Klein Dytham Architecture.  At Metropolis, the public is invited to attend Pecha Kucha: Metropolis featuring “best of” presentations from the past 11 installments of the event plus fresh ideas.

Shafraaz appears as "The Re-Imagineer" on the back cover of Parlour magazine's latest issue, "The Sweet Life."

The cover highlights one of Shafraaz's current community projects, Designing Downtown.