The Peace Plaza project in downtown Rochester, Minnesota recently won a Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (MASLA) Merit Award in the Public Landscape Design Catetory. The revitalized plaza has created a vibrant and cherished place to gather and celebrate. Starting with an inspired vision by the city, the landscape architects design created a flexible framework for creative programming which has stimulated tremendous commercial and social interaction in the heart of the City.

Yaggy Colby Associates role in the project was the landscape architecture, architecture, civil and structural engineering, surveying and construction administration

Yaggy Colby Associates' Delafield Office has become the newest participant in the Department of Natural Resources Green Tier Program. Wisconsin’s Green Tier is the first program of its kind in the nation. Under Green Tier, qualified businesses and associations make binding commitments to superior environmental performance. In exchange, these businesses are given incentives proportional to their environmental commitments. Green Tier enables good environmental actors to perform even better and recognizes their work. This allows DNR to focus its resources on those facilities that need greater attention and assistance in meeting environmental requirements. To read the full press release please click on the link below.
 http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cea/environmental/participants/yaggy/documents/newsrelease20100128.pdf <

A Ribbon Cutting was held October 16, 2009 to celebrate the addition of the new house at 724 2nd Street SW in Rochester, Minnesota. This addition makes the Gift of Life the largest transplant house in the country. Yaggy Colby Associates provided all architectural, engineering, and civil services for the new 36-room guest home in Rochester, Minnesota. The mission of the Gift of Life Transplant House is to provide a high quality, affordable, and inviting homelike facility for transplant patients.

In recent years, the facility has been filled to capacity, leaving some patients to find alternative accommodations. To remedy this, Yaggy Colby Associates was chosen to design the facility, which also includes common areas with communal dining, kitchen spaces, activity room, library, and living spaces. Special care and attention was paid in designing spaces that reflect a homelike atmosphere and a sense of family living, which helps to facilitate the organ transplant rehabilitation process.

The Delafield office is joining WasteCap Wisconsin, a state-wide nonprofit organization that provides waste reduction and recycling assistance to businesses. WasteCap Wisconsin offers a variety of services that target solid waste issues and help organizations find workable, cost-effective solutions. WasteCap can aid organization with setting up and facilitating on-site recycling programs on construction projects of any scale.
More specifically the organization provides:
Training
Accreditation
Media exposure
Networking opportunities
Resources for running a construction site recycling program, including contact information for "reuse, recycling, and compost markets.

Joining WasteCap is a natural fit with Yaggy Colby Associates' corporate LEED/green initiative. We hope to gain knowledge, exposure, and credibility. We will also have access to current information and trends, such as the fact that in 2009 WisDOT will allow 10% use of recycled shingles in hot mix asphalt. We are currently helping incorporate construction site recycling methods into two City of Delafield projects. By coordinating with the general contractor for both projects, M.A. Mortenson, we will gain first hand experience with the construction site recycling process, save the City in waste hauling costs, and create positive PR and "green" exposure for the City and the project teams. For more information visit http://www.wastecapwi.org/