News briefs

New green Seattle City Hall is an energy hog. The $72 million facility, which opened two years ago, was designed with the environment in mind, incorporating a slew of energy-saving technologies. But utility bills show that Seattle's city hall acts more like an old-fashioned electricity hog, consuming up to 50% more electricity than the larger building it replaced.
Yale alum's Freedom Tower lawsuit against SOM OK'd to go forward. A federal judge ruled last month that former Yale architecture student Thomas Shine's lawsuit against architect David Childs and his firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, could proceed. Childs is accused of appropriating one of Shine's student projects in a 2003 design class on the Freedom Tower.
Toyota plans first green auto dealership. The Japanese company that introduced the hybrid car to America may help build the nation's first certified "green" auto dealership. Architects for Toyota and a private auto dealer have presented plans for the eco-friendly facility in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas.
Classic Houston hotel to reopen—as a medical center. The Plaza Apartment Hotel, once billed as "Houston's first million-dollar hotel," has stood vacant for nearly a quarter century. Architect Tim Cisneros plans to reopen the Plaza next February not as a hotel, but as a medical office building and cosmetic surgery center.

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