Healthy Buildings Go Beyond Green

Top U.S. green developer to showcase designs for world’s first ’Vedic green’ office building

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON VEDIC ARCHITECTURE
A holistic approach to sustainability and healthy living
National Building Museum, Washington, D.C.
Monday, June 13 * 6:30 to 8:00 PM WASHINGTON D.C., June 6, 2005 The world-class Tower II office building is the largest commercial application of ancient Vedic architecture in harmony with natural law. Tower II is designed by architects Kishimoto, Gordon, Dalaya of McLean, Virginia.

One of America’s top commercial green developers, Jeffrey Abramson of the Tower Companies in Washington, D.C., will present to architects and developers in the nation’s capital plans for the world’s largest Vedic green office building-“Tower II”-to be constructed in Rockville, Maryland. Abramson will address a national conference on Vedic architecture at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. on Monday, June 13, 6:30 p.m. (http://nbm.org). Abramson is a former trustee of the National Building Museum.

The 200,000 sq. ft., $72 million world-class office building will incorporate the most advanced green environmental technologies along with the health-promoting design principles of ancient Vedic architecture in harmony with natural law. Construction is scheduled to begin Winter 2005. Abramson said he was forced to go beyond green to fulfill his quest to provide clients with the healthiest possible work environments that are conducive to success. “We realized there is more to a healthy workspace than green building materials,” Abramson said. “We realized that the architecture of the workspace drives function, performance, and success.”

To find the right design, Abramson turned to the world’s oldest system of architecture, Vedic architecture. This was not a difficult decision. Abramson has been enjoying the health benefits of living in a Vedic home in Potomac, Maryland, for eight years.

Abramson acknowledges that as recently as a few years ago, Vedic architecture would hardly be mainstream in business. But times have changed. "Corporate philosophies are changing to meet people’s needs-which is changing workspaces. In fact, the best corporations are those that set themselves apart by building and exploring better and healthier work environments-to reduce the stress and pressures of life and help people stay healthy and be successful, Abramson says.

Abramson says when he talks to business people about Vedic architecture “they are open, they get it. People intuitively know that buildings affect us deeply-and the best buildings are those that make us feel good and at their height, elevate the spirit.”

Vedic architecture was brought to the West by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced the Transcendental Meditation® program nearly 50 years ago and Ayurvedic preventive medicine 20 years ago. Tower II is designed by architects Kishimoto, Gordon, Dalaya of McLean, Virginia, in collaboration with Maharishi Global Construction of Fairfield, Iowa.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Leading architects and developers will present the health-promoting design principles and developments in the fast-growing new field of Vedic green architecture-with hundreds of millions of dollars of new Vedic office and building construction nationwide in just the past few years. The conference will also showcase the latest medical research on the health benefits of Vedic architecture.

PANELISTS INCLUDE
JEFFREY ABRAMSON Partner, The Tower Companies
Washington, DC Jeffrey Abramson is one of America’s top commercial green developers and a pioneer in Vedic green development, who is developing Tower II in Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Abramson also developed the Blair Towns in Silver Spring, Maryland-America’s first LEED-certified apartment complex. He is a partner in The Tower Companies in Bethesda, Maryland-whose portfolio includes commercial, hotels, residential, warehouse, retail and office park development in the Washington, D.C. area. Mr. Abramson is a former trustee of the National Building Museum and co-chair of the Museum’s “Big and Green: Sustainable Buildings for the 21st Century”-a groundbreaking, traveling exhibit focused on the exploration of sustainability in contemporary architecture and development.

JONATHAN LIPMAN, AIA
Chief Architect, Maharishi Global Construction
Jonathan Lipman is an award-winning architect who has spent the last decade overseeing the design and construction of hundreds of Vedic homes and office buildings throughout the United States. Mr. Lipman is a past president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and has done historic preservation work on some of the nation’s most distinguished landmarks. Mr. Lipman serves as the chief architect of Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa-the world’s first city built according to Vedic architecture. Mr. Lipman is also the director of Maharishi Global Construction (www.mgc-vastu.org), which collaborated with the Tower Companies on Tower II. Mr. Lipman is widely published and is a frequent speaker at national architectural conferences.

UNIQUE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN ELEMENTS
Right Direction: According to Vedic architecture, orientation of a building has a dramatic and easily measured impact upon the quality of life of its occupants. The sun’s energy is most nourishing when it is rising; homes and buildings that face east bring the greatest benefits to the health and the vitality of their occupants.

Right Placement of Rooms: Because the sun has different qualities of energy as it moves across the sky, Vedic buildings are designed so that these energies correspond to the specific activities performed within the different rooms of a home or building.

Right Proportion: Proportion is a key to successful design in nature. Right proportion in buildings can connect individual intelligence to cosmic intelligence.

Natural, Non-Toxic Materials and Solar Energy: Vedic architecture promotes natural and non-toxic construction materials. It also emphasizes filling rooms with sunlight and fresh air, as well as the use of photovoltaics for on-site energy generation.

ABOUT THE TOWER COMPANIES
One of the largest purchasers of green energy in the country, Tower Companies has developed more than 3.5 million square feet of office space, 3,500 apartments, regional malls, lifestyle centers, office parks, hotels, and industrial/flex space within the Washington metro region (www.TowerCompanies.com).

CONTACT: Steven Yellin
syellin@mum.edu 641-470-1319

Contact Information

Steven Yellin

Media Representative

National Building Museum of Washington, D.C.

Contact via E-mail