Trump selects SOM. New York-based developer Donald Trump has selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design his proposed "world's tallest building" in Chicago. The multiuse tower could be as tall as 1,500 feet. Field Enterprises is planning to sell air rights above a parking garage adjacent to Trump's planned project, raising the possibility that Trump could purchase the rights and expand the size of his building.
Code groups to map merger plan. At their annual business meetings this fall, the three model building code groups — Building Officials and Code Administrators International, International Conference of Building Officials and Southern Building Code Congress International — will consider resolutions to establish a timetable for the merger of their organizations into the International Code Council. Implementation in January 2003 is the goal.
Three vie for Caltrans project. The California Department of Transportation, an agency not known for its aesthetic sensitivity, has selected three innovative architects as finalists to design its $140 million regional headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Dutch designer Rem Koolhaas, Thom Mayne of Santa Monica-based Morphosis and the Spanish firm of Miralles Tagliabue will present their plans and models to the agency in October.
The greening of buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have created an energy rating program for existing buildings that combines USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system with EPA's EnergyStar program. The resultant new LEED standards will be based on whole-building performance for operating and retrofitting commercial and institutional facilities.
