Innovations in Sustainability Radically Transform Buildings. Here’s How.
According to the United Nations, buildings and construction account for 37% of global carbon emissions. Therefore, the sustainability choices we make in conjunction with our clients—from big picture elements of a building’s design to the finest of details—have the power to shape the future viability of the planet we call home.
This ethos is central to our design vision, which seeks to meet the challenges of today with an optimistic, intelligent vision for the built environment of tomorrow—prioritizing sustainability, health and community.
Today, a wave of sustainable innovations illuminates how the next generation of buildings will be designed, specified and built. Below, we outline four of these breakthroughs, from corporate campuses powered by geothermal wells to electric hospitals.
Geothermal: A Source of Infinite Energy
As energy extracted from the Earth's crust, geothermal energy can reduce carbon emissions by up to 72% compared to traditional air-conditioning systems and 44% compared to traditional air-source heat pumps, while providing a significantly cleaner energy source than natural gas and oil.
Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center – Sitka, Alaska: Accessible only by sea or air, the hospital will feature a ground source geothermal system. Unusual for a hospital—typically one of the most energy-intensive building types—the project will host 66 vertical bores that extend 350 feet deep underneath the parking lot, providing an efficient energy source that maximizes the climate conditions and topography of its site.
Electrification: The Future of Clean Energy
By replacing technologies that use fossil fuels with electrically-powered equivalents, electrification can greatly reduce carbon emissions, even when powering complex buildings like large academic medical centers.
Massachusetts General Hospital Phillip and Susan Ragon Building – Boston, MA: Designed to be the most sustainable major hospital of its size in the US, the Ragon Building is powered by 100% renewable electricity and an evolving source of green steam production from a Massachusetts-based plant.
Mass Timber: Harnessing the Power of Nature
Capturing the sustainable properties and restorative power of mass timber—prefabricated, engineered wood—new projects are combining smaller reinforced wood elements to create larger and stronger building systems.
Lower School Campus of Westmark School – Encino, CA: Through its design, the Lower School campus of Westmark School uses low-embodied-carbon mass timber to create an inviting, inclusive learning environment for students with language-based learning differences.
Healthy Materials: It's All In the Details
Rethinking design materials throughout a building, even the smallest of elements, are the building blocks for transforming a project into a sustainable model.
Brooks Headquarters – Seattle, WA: For the design of sports company Brooks' corporate headquarters, 94% of the project’s materials are sustainably sourced, nontoxic and red list free, including its lighting fixtures.
