Awards & Recognition

Living Building Challenge™ Certification

October 12, 2010

The Omega Center for Sustainable Living was one of the first buildings in the world to achieve full certification under the Living Building Challenge™. A program of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, the Living Building Challenge™ is currently the most advanced green building rating system in the world. "From the moment we launched the Living Building Challenge™ at Greenbuild in 2006, Omega has been a leader....Over the past four years, they’ve kept up the momentum, blazing a trail for others in the building industry to follow," said Jason F. McLennan, chief executive officer at the International Living Building Institute and creator of the Living Building Challenge™.

LEED® Platinum Certification

October 7, 2010

The Omega Center for Sustainable Living has achieved LEED® Platinum certification, the highest green building designation available from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System™ is an internationally recognized green building certification program. "Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies demonstrates immense leadership through their LEED® Platinum certification of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, chief executive officer, and founding chairperson of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum: "National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?"

May 14, 2010–January 9, 2011

The Omega Center for Sustainable Living has been featured in the fourth exhibition of the National Design Triennial Series: Why Design Now? The exhibition explores the work of designers addressing human and environmental problems across many fields of design, and emphasizes the connectedness of design practices and the need for international cooperation to solve the world's problems. A film about the Eco Machine™ at the OCSL appears in the health category of the exhibition.

American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA/COTE) 2010 Top Ten Green Projects Award

The Omega Center for Sustainable Living received the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA/COTE) Top Ten Green Projects award on Earth Day 2010. This honor is the green building industry's highest award for sustainable design excellence. BNIM, architects for the OCSL, worked with John Todd Ecological Design to integrate the Eco Machine™ technology central to the Omega Center for Sustainable Living. The OCSL is the sixth BNIM building to receive the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects award.

High Performance Building Designation from NYSERDA, 2009

In 2009, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) issued a plaque recognizing the Omega Center for Sustainable Living as a high performance building designed to significantly exceed the New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code. The OCSL and all other buildings receiving this designation exceeded the code by at least 30 percent.

New York State Letter of Commendation, July 16, 2009

At the grand opening of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living on July 16, 2009, Tara Sullivan presented Omega Institute with a New York State Letter of Commendation from Governor David Paterson to commemorate the historic day and designate the OCSL a Quadricentennial Legacy Project. "Today Omega has established an historic contribution in sustainability and green energy, which they've brought to the region and to the world," she said.

2007 Living Building Challenge On the Boards Award

In 2007, the Omega Center for Sustainable Living was the sole winner of the Living Building Challenge On the Boards Award. It was recognized as a building in the design stage that achieved the highest level of environmental performance. The Cascadia Region Green Building Council (Cascadia) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded the designers of the OCSL, architecture firm BNIM, this honor at the Greenbuild 2007 conference. The judges noted, "The principles of the Living Building Challenge have permeated the process such that all prerequisites are intrinsic to the [OCSL's] design."