First Unitarian Society Meeting House by Zane Williams, courtesy of The Kubala Washatko Architects

The First Unitarian Society Meeting House in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin was a preexisting facility designed by one of the ancestors of green architecture, Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright. The addition of a 500-seat auditorium, finished in the Fall of 2008, was overseen by The Kubala Washatko Architects with the idea of complementing the original structure while incorporating enough advanced features of the present that the project ended up earning a gold LEED certification. The auditorium’s radiant floor HVAC system is a significant energy saver, and the attractive green roof prevents rainwater runoff. The use of water-to-water geothermal heat pumps and low-VOC materials may not have been high on Wright’s list of priorities, but this addition succeeds in breaking new ground from an engineering standpoint in ways that the 1940s-era Meeting House did architecturally.