Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill, which opened last month in Meridian, Idaho, has earned two Green Globes® from the Green Building Initiative based on its innovative sustainable design. Green Globes is a revolutionary green building guidance and assessment program that offers an effective, practical and affordable way to advance the environmental performance and sustainability of commercial buildings.

Located in The Portico at Meridian (a Gardner Ahlquist development), Ling & Louie’s is a collaboration between Boise’s CSHQA, architects and engineers; Jeff Balzarini of interior design firm Studio 32; and well-known Boise restaurateur Rex Chandler. With locations in Colorado and Arizona, this is the first Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill in Idaho.

Essential elements of the Green Globes system include: a comprehensive environmental assessment protocol; software tools that speed and simplify online assessment; best practices guidance for green construction and operations; qualified assessors with green-building expertise; a rating/certification system and environmental assessment areas. Based on its recognized and proven assessment protocol, the Green Globes certification system ensures that environmental impacts are comprehensively assessed in multiple categories, including energy, indoor environment, site, water, resources, emissions and project/environmental management.

Ling & Louie’s used multiple green strategies to earn its two Green Globes, including: an integrated design process and green-design facilitation; exterior light fixtures that minimize “sky noise”; and a rechargeable electric vehicle used for deliveries. “This is very innovative on the owner’s part,” says Green Globes assessor Eric Truelove. 

Indoor environmental strategies included solar shading devices on windows to prevent glare and direct sunlight; lighting controls that relate to room occupancy, circulation and use; design of exterior walls to reduce sound from outside—allowing for speech intelligibility inside; an energy-efficient condensing-boiler water heater; low-emission furnaces (and water heater) and an underground seepage bed to filter storm water before it enters the soil and ground water. The restaurant should use 50% less energy than the average commercial building of similar size because of its efficient mechanical systems.