NEW METRO TRANSIT GARAGE CITED IN NATIONAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION

For Immediate Release                      
Alan D. Crockett, ACEC, 202-682-4301; acrockett@acec.org
Joel Hockstra, LHB, 612-338-2029; joel.hockstra@lhbcorp.com        
 
NEW METRO TRANSIT GARAGE CITED
IN NATIONAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION
Innovative Facility is a Model of Sustainable, Energy-Saving Design
 
WASHINGTON (March 19, 2024) – LHB, Inc. of Minneapolis has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 57^th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for its role in the design of Metro Transit’s new North Loop Garage in Minneapolis.
 
The massive 657,970-sq-ft facility was designed to support Metro Transit’s growing fleet of electric buses. The agency, which serves the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul region, has set ambitious goals to convert 20 percent of its 836-bus fleet to net-zero vehicles by 2027. The North Loop Garage may ultimately house an all-electric fleet of 200 buses.
 
Innovative features include a rainwater harvesting system for use in washing vehicles, a passive solar energy collection incorporated into black metal panels located on the southwest exterior, and a geothermal energy system that uses the building’s structural piles to tap natural heat from underground. The project team also made provisions for the eventual addition of a 2-megawatt solar array.
 
Founded in Duluth, Minn., LHB is a multidisciplinary engineering, architecture, and planning firm. Other project participants include Hallberg Engineering, HDR, HNTB, and Stantec.
 
The project is among 203 entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world. Judging for the awards program—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in February and was conducted by a national 26-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.
 
Recognition of all award winners including top winners—16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will take place during the 2024 EEA Gala, to be held at the Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
 
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing more than 5,200 independent engineering firms and more than 600,000 professionals throughout the United States engaged in the development of America’s transportation, water, and energy infrastructure, along with environmental, industrial, and other public and private facilities. Founded in 1906 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., ACEC is a national federation of 51 state and regional organizations.
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