by Tracy Ostroff
Contributing Editor

How do you . . . design by example?

Summary: The new tvsdesign office in Midtown Atlanta “walks the walk” when it comes to sustainability and the mission of their practice. The new space is LEED®-silver rated for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI). The renovation breathes new life into nearly 775,000 square feet with its open floor plan, maximized daylighting, and monochromatic palette. Open social areas, such as the Heart and Hub, encourage activity within the office and allow a transparency for both employees and guests.

"As a leading design firm, we promote environmental health and responsibility in our work. We are very pleased to have an office that is exemplary of these values,” says Susie Spivey-Tilson, the tvsdesign sustainable-design consultant. “We have an invaluable resource in that it serves as a living example to our employees and our clients. We are able to demonstrate environmental responsibility and beautiful, functional design at the same time. There is no better tool for education.”

To achieve LEED-CI certification, tvsdesign implemented several sustainable design strategies into the project. For example, more than 87 percent, or 340 tons, of the demolition and construction waste was diverted from entering a landfill. In addition, prior to the start of construction, employees collected office supplies, architectural samples, and other furniture and donated them to local architecture and design schools for reuse. Other sustainable strategies for the space include:

• Preserving natural resources through the use of local, recycled, and rapidly renewable materials; maximizing daylight and views; and monitoring thermal comfort—in total, more than 90 percent of the office has access to unobstructed views of the outside world
• Offsetting all of the energy used throughout the two-year construction through the purchase of renewable energy
• Specifying materials and finishes with low or no VOCs
• Reducing potable water use by more than a third
• Purchasing new equipment and appliances for their EnergyStar® rating
• Keeping the office in close proximity to alternative transportation; installing bike racks, showers, and an office fitness facility has resulted in 21 percent of employees not driving their car into work every day and an increase in overall employee health.

Great learning opportunity
“The recent renovation of our Atlanta office was the perfect opportunity to showcase our design philosophy and create a LEED-certified sustainable work environment. We are proud to have achieved the LEED-CI Silver designation for our office and our continued commitment to sustainable design,” says Roger Neuenschwander, tvsdesign president, in announcing the project.

Spivey says the firm made a conscious effort to stay and renovate, rather than move to new space. Although they are a tenant, they had designed the original building and have a good relationship with the owner, who allowed them to push the envelope and make changes that affect the entire building, such as adopting a green cleaning policy, installing bike racks, and creating a no-smoking policy based on the LEED criteria. For the firm, the redesign was a good exercise to try new sustainable strategies, particularly with lighting design.

Seeing the light
The designers found many learning opportunities in the project, especially when it came to lighting. They decided to take advantage of their floor-to-ceiling glazed windows for natural daylighting and to install daylight photo sensors in each of the rooms and offices. They put task lighting at each of the desks, and overhead lights dim in response to changes in sunlight.

Being so intimately involved with the design, they also became more aware of how to manage the certification process and how to write specs for contractors to take advantage of LEED points across the checklist modules.

The architects also went out of their way, Spivey says, to open the office in a way that respects private spaces while promoting the open studio environment. “It promotes privacy and community with being able to see to the outside.”

Bottom line
It’s a question they get asked about every project: what is the cost of sustainable design? They architects know from their energy bills they are saving money thanks to the changes they have made. They will take these lessons to client meetings, as well as stories about their interactions with their new space. Spivey says the experience will be useful in explaining not only big-ticket items like lighting design, but more qualitative data of how sustainable strategies improve workplace performance. “The research is so soft and the numbers are so general,” that it’s sometimes difficult to evaluate the benefits of integrative and sustainable design. Spivey is understandably partial to the new office, and her intimacy with the project has bred appreciation for the space. “I really enjoy being at work,” she says.