 Value
of the architect in sustainable design practice
by Jennifer Brite
Summary: Architects
approach sustainable design using a wide range of skills such as
real-world knowledge, depth of experience, teamwork, creativity and
flexibility.
The AIA’s resource knowledge base can connect you to Audrey Kay Werthan’s University of Michigan report on designing energy optimized buildings. Werthan’s piece contains a step-by-step delineation of responsibilities between architects and engineers for designing energy efficient buildings.
See what else the Architects Knowledge Resource has to offer for your practice.
1. Autodesk One Market, San Francisco (LEED-CI Platinum). Photo by David
Wakeley and HOK.
2. Symantec Headquarters, Culver City, California (LEED Gold) Photo by
Lawrence Anderson and HOK.
3. GSA Social Security Administration SE Payment Center, Birmingham,
Alabama (LEED Silver). Photo by Jonathan Hillyer and HOK
View this week in pictures.
President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus package is expected
to allocate more than $25 billion for energy-efficiency and renewable-energy
initiatives, including many hefty tax breaks for green building,
so it should come as no surprise that clients are interested in eco-friendly
projects, especially those that may help them save money in a down
market. Having LEED-certified architects is a must in today’s
environment, but it is only one part of a comprehensive green portfolio
of services. In fact, many practitioners, though not LEED accredited,
have been practicing sustainable design for years or are otherwise
highly qualified due to specialized education.
“LEED is a tool. Like a ruler or a compass,” says Filo
Castore, AIA, LEED AP, associate principal, director of architecture
and sustainability at Abel Design Group. “Architects need to
have a good knowledge of the ‘place’ (culture, climate,
user, sun path, orientation, and site uniqueness). I have been very
fortunate to work with team members in my office that brought different
higher education backgrounds to the table (chemistry, psychology,
and engineering majors and others).”
Architects are able to take an approach to sustainable design that goes beyond a rating system that evaluates based on a set of criteria and points. LEED provides a guideline to track the performance of a building though many projects that aren't LEED certified also have excellent green features. But it doesn't provide the how to that an experienced architect brings to the table.
In fact there has been a paradigm shift in delivery models necessary
to achieve sustainable design. The AIA’s Guide to Integrated
Project Delivery calls for early involvement in a building project
of owners, designers, constructors, fabricators, and end users and
operators in an environment of effective collaboration and open information
sharing, in which an architect serves as a leader. Under this paradigm,
project delivery processes benefit from integration of education
and practice in design and construction, both within and across disciplines.
Teamwork is the key to any successful green endeavor because the
architect has to work with, and very often educate, both the full
delivery team and the client’s operating team, both of whom
may have very different goals and knowledge bases.
“The hardest thing for an architect to ask a potential client
is ‘should you build a new building and can you make it smaller?’” says
Donna Kacmar, associate professor, College of Architecture, University
of Houston and principal,
Architect Works, Inc., whose first green project involved spec’ing
a house with formaldehyde-free products for her mother who had a
chemical sensitivity. “Our professional workload priorities
and eco-friendly building decisions are not always aligned!”
 Being a good listener is an excellent place to start (you can’t
help someone realize their goals without first knowing what they
are), but Rives T. Taylor, FAIA, a director of sustainable design
at Gensler, says it’s also helpful to develop “ways to
talk” with a client in order to lay out green building’s
economic and operating benefits. Architects bring tremendous value
to design teams because they are holistic thinkers by nature, able
to look at budget, design, and environmental considerations all at
once while also being able to talk to clients and present options.
Rives, who as university architect of a University of Texas Health
Science center oversaw the creation or renovation of more than 1
million square feet that applied sustainable design techniques and
later the LEED certification process, suggests emphasizing return
on investment and net present value of a particular project or product.
Most clients still have that all-important first cost goal to meet,
and often the only way to break the barrier between them and the
life-cycle, cost-minded operator is through proper communication.
But gaining real-world knowledge takes work. Castore suggests visiting
a healthy, performing building in the climate zone in which you must
design and asking as many questions as possible of the user, owner,
designer, and builder. Though LEED EB and O&M have started to
evaluate how an already existing building performs, he says the best
way to figure how a project you are working on will do after it opens
its doors is to see a real-life, similar example. Stephen A. Jovicich,
AIA, chief executive officer, partner, Heights Venture Architects,
also recommends, when possible, touring facilities where the components
you are thinking of specifying are made and serving on committees
of professional organizations outside of architecture, including
vendors, manufacturers, contractors, and engineers.
 The AIA offers several green design continuing education courses.
In addition COTE (Committee on the Environment) works to educate
the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public
through podcasts, courses at the AIA convention, and events. Local
COTE chapters also often provide continuing education for their membership;
interested architects should contact their local component.
But one of the most important things for a practitioner to realize
is that he or she never works in a vacuum and that creativity and
flexibility to not just fall back on tried-and-true approaches must
come before all else.
“[Green design] is a collaborative process where everyone
has a good idea that needs to be evaluated,” theorizes Castore. “It
is not linear.”
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Sustainability at the Cutting Edge