Sustainable Action Week 2019
Valerio Dewalt Train runs its third annual Sustainable Action Week
This year’s Sustainable Action Week was based on the theme of advocacy, and simultaneously included events in our Chicago, San Francisco and Palo Alto offices. We‘d like to take this moment to reflect on this past week’s events, and thank all of our partners that took part in this year’s SAWeek!
SAWeek began three years ago, when it became clear that as a firm that advocates for sustainable practices in all aspects of our work, we needed to continually emphasize this dimension of our projects and to share ideas among all of our offices. This led VDT associate Romina Tonucci to spearhead the committee that now organizes this annual event.
Events
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A brief overview of the events that took place around our various offices.
Mini Trade Shows
Throughout SAWeek, our offices hosted multiple trade shows, where manufacturers were invited to come in to our office and present sustainable products.
We would personally like to thank the following companies for coming in:
Carnegie, Ceramic Technics, Corral, Fireclay, Haworth, Humanscale, Interface, Kohler, Leuk Finishes, Luum Textiles, Moen, Mohawk, Office Revolution, Skyline Glass, Steelcase, Teknion, and Terramai.
Irma and Veronica delivered a PechaKucha-style presentation about the water crisis in Mexico City.
Guest Presentations
Our offices invited several guest speakers to give expert presentations on topics ranging from climate change to healthy living through building design.
Thanks to all who participated:
Mohammad H. Abbasi, WSP USA
Joyce Coffee, Climate Resilience Consulting
Renee Doktorczyk, ArchiTech Consulting
Caryn Fairlie, Allsteel
Sandra Lupien, Consultant
Matthew McGrane, Farr Associates Architecture & Urban Design
Courtney Moline, Allsteel
Amy Rynell, Heartland Alliance
Gurdaver Singh, Guttmann & Blaevoet
Nicole Soultanov, SPUR
Brett Charles Taylor, Gensler
Tedd Tiffany, Guttmann & Blaevoet
Zach looks out at the Chicago skyline from the green roof at 1330 Fulton.
Staff Field Trips
Omni EcoSystems gave our Chicago team a tour of the green roof installation at 1330 Fulton, home to Sterling Bay, Skender, and Glassdoor. On the West Coast, VDT staff toured Stanford Central Energy.
In-House Presenters
For further educational experiences, we looked inward and gave employees a chance to topics important to them, from the water crisis in Mexico City, to the rising sea levels around The Netherlands.
A special thanks to:
Irma Ayala, Rebecca Kirova, Christine Rosenberg, Brad Pausha, Bob Webber, and Veronica Widholm
Hiba takes a mindful moment during VDT’s stretching and meditation demonstration.
Stretching & Meditation
At the VDT offices, our active workstations decrease sedentary time and increase physical activity, contributing to improved health, and weight control. We invited yoga instructor Emily Saunders, LMT & RYT, to introduce some relaxation and stretching tips, all from the comfort of our chairs.
Big Marsh Clean Up & Build
Amongst the typical weed pulling and gardening at Big Marsh, VDT partnered with Open Architecture Chicago Volunteers and the Chicago Parks District to help build out shipping containers for bike rentals and storage.
Beer Friday at The Beer Temple
The VDT Chicago office hit the town to celebrate and relive all the wonderful SAWeek Moments.
SAW Team
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This year's SAW has been the most successful to date! We would like to thank all of the staff from Valerio Dewalt Train that made this incredible event possible:
