La Kretz Innovation Campus among Five Finalists Chosen Nationally for the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Top Honor

Envisioned as an industry hub where engineers, scientists, and policymakers interact to promote the development of clean technologies and LA’s green economy, LKIC occupies a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)-owned 3.2-acre parcel of land in the center of the vibrant Downtown LA Arts District. The campus is a place where LADWP customers – residential, commercial and industrial – can learn about existing and envisioned technologies and programs intended to save energy, water and money by utilizing LADWP rebates, testing smart appliances and learning conservation-minded behavioral changes.

Its interior functions are located in a transformed 61,000 square-foot, one-story masonry warehouse structure. The fully seismically upgraded building features offices, conference rooms, an Advanced Prototyping Center, training classrooms, and exhibition and event spaces, as well as LADWP’s Customer Engagement Center, research and development labs and a case study home. The exterior features the half-acre Arts District Park – the first public park in the neighborhood. The campus also features California-friendly landscaping and examples of working bioswales, greywater systems, solar panels and cisterns, as well as a microgrid system, creating an example of how clean technology can function effectively in local homes and businesses.

The facility’s anchor tenant, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), is a non-profit organization helping promising cleantech companies deliver market-ready solutions and further economic development for the LA region. Currently, an ecosystem of more than 500 campus members, including LACI’s cleantech portfolio companies, leading environmental organizations and non-profit partners call La Kretz Innovation Campus home.

“This is a community of thought leaders finding solutions,” stated Fred Walti, LACI President and CEO. “The vision and leadership of the Mayor of Los Angeles, coupled with the commitment of the project’s partners including, LADWP, John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK), City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, Councilmember Jose Huizar (C 14), Morton La Kretz, the community and numerous agencies and individuals, enabled the La Kretz Innovation Campus to come to life and provides an opportunity for a new generation of innovative cleantech companies that are truly making an impact not only for LA’s green economy but globally.”

“LADWP is proud to be a part of the La Kretz Innovation Campus and its role in propelling the clean tech economy forward in Los Angeles,” Nancy Sutley, LADWP’s Chief Sustainability Officer said. “The campus sets a green living example for the community and creates jobs for Angelenos. We are honored to see that the Campus is receiving the recognition of the Rudy Bruner Award for these contributions to the community and commitment to our customers.”

Rudy Bruner Award entries comprise completed projects across the contiguous United States. Finalists and medalists are chosen by a nationwide committee of urban experts through an in-depth evaluation process involving input from the award application, site visits, interviews with project participants and community members and committee discussions. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Award has honored 78 projects in 27 states have been honored since its founding.

“This campus is a new kind of facility for the City of Los Angeles – and one of a very few of its type in existence globally,” states Alice Kimm, Principal, John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK). “In its flexibility, its accommodation of different types of programs, and its transformation of valuable existing building stock, it sets a new standard for urban revitalization while promoting innovation, education, community participation, and leadership across multiple disciplines. The wide range of tenants to date includes Climate Resolve, Arid Lands Institute, CicLAvia, River LA, and LACI’s many groundbreaking clean technology startups. The interdisciplinary nature of this project, and the broad focus of the campus on sustainability in all its guises, benefits the global community-at-large.”

To learn more about the La Kretz Innovation Campus, please visit: http://laincubator.org/la-kretz-innovation-campus/ 

About the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was created in 1986 by Simeon Bruner, founding principal of Bruner/Cott Architects and Planners (Cambridge, MA), and is a program of the Bruner Foundation. The RBA was named in honor of founder Simeon Bruner’s late father, who established the Foundation in 1963 with his mother, Martha. The Bruner Foundation is renowned for its pioneering approach to social issues including health care, education, evaluation, and the built environment.

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