I wrote this article as a member of the news bureau editorial team at McKinstry, a sustainable design-‐ build company based out of Seattle, WA. It was published on the home page of their intranet.
November 4, 2013
David Daniel Receives Honors for AIA National Design Award Senior Project Manager David Daniel, who currently resides in Denver, was recently honored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for a LEED Gold® certified residential home he designed. This one-‐of-‐a-‐kind project, designed six years ago for a private homeowner in La Jolla, Calif., is one of the first homes to ever achieve LEED® certification. In an incredibly rare opportunity, the homeowner, (who asked to be referred to by his family name, Barr), had both the passion about energy conservation and the funds necessary for the design team to delve into cutting-‐edge technologies. Barr met Daniel at an industry conference in Las Vegas, where they hit it off right away. Barr spoke with Daniel for more than an hour, asking questions about his design capabilities and the most innovative technologies available in the industry. More than a year later, he called Daniel up with this unique offer. “To date, this is the only project I’ve designed where I was given full range of creativity and control,” said Daniel. “It was incredibly exciting. The owner’s only stipulations were that the design be cutting edge and that it stay within the $3 million budget.”