Winnipeg Free Press

Many architects want to design the province's most environmentally sound building and win the bragging rights that come with such a feat. A small firm with a small project may soon to take the lead. "I wouldn't call it a race per se, but...it's the first man to the moon I guess, like we put our flag up," Yaron Walter, president of Walter Corp., a local architectural firm, said regarding the quest to get the province's first platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certificate. "And we're the underdogs so we're going to be coming out of nowhere with it." The platinum certificate is elusive -- Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) tried for it only to watch it slip away from minor mistakes made during construction -- and now the MEC's design firm is trying again with another project. But Walter is trying to squeak to the front of the pack with a condominium that should be completed first.