“Providing abundance while living within our means

is a fundamental challenge of sustainability. ”

AIA Framework for Design Excellence

 

Good design adds value for owners, occupants, community, and planet, regardless of project size and budget.

Sustainable design must be accessible to everyone. Strategies that lead to high-performing buildings across all measures are effective only if they are implemented in real buildings; however, these strategies will be implemented on a broad scale only if they make sense financially. There is a misconception in the industry that sustainable design adds costs, so only a few projects with high budgets and ambitious goals can afford to be “sustainable” or achieve high levels of performance across measures. This could not be further from the truth. While flashy features (such as solar panels) do add additional upfront costs, most of the best practices in this guide are either cost-neutral or come with significant savings. Rightsizing is one such strategy. Decreasing a building’s square footage will save costs while conserving energy and material resources. Reusing an existing structure is another example of a strategy for both lower cost and lower embodied energy.

To read more about building size, material use, operational requirements, financing and incentives, and community links- MORE >

Design for Economy

Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 12:00pm

Speakers:
Illya Azaroff, AIA

Earn 1 LU | HSW for attending

Social: #DesignForEconomy

Register Now!