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Sustainable Design
Fennie + Mehl Architects have always acted in an environmentally sustainable manner, both in our designs and how our business is operated. For example, twelve years ago we implemented an office hours policy of working 80 hours every 9 days with an the office closed
every other Friday, thereby eliminating 24 round trip commutes a year. Our office is a Registered San Francisco Green Business which reflects our continued commitment to improve our employee wellness and productivity, conserve energy, reduce waste and use less toxic products. Our practice has always had a healthy dose of renovation projects where we saved and reused significant portions of the existing
buildings into our designs, in essence, extending the useful life of the in-place materials and systems. We have also advocated energy efficient lighting and HVAC systems for all our projects.
A company that needs to make changes to their facilities will be challenged in navigating the myriad of crucial choices and decisions when planning their facilities (such as identifying space requirements, potential office location, negotiating lease terms, etc.). At the same time, firms are now
focusing on addressing the environmental impacts of their projects and their long-term effects on global warming.
Our approach to green building is to first focus on the design effort on the sustainable design concepts which will offer the biggest reductions in negative impacts, then on the other areas which will present smaller reductions and improvements. Then, we will address synergies among green
subsystems to leverage the designs to make a bigger contribution to the green building objective. Making environmentally sound choices while keeping your costs in check and the project on schedule, can be a daunting challenge, especially with all the greenwashing occurring
in the marketplace.*
Recent Sustainable Designs
Projects include:
- Bar Association of San
Francisco, San Francisco, CA (pursuing LEEDv2 Certification)
- Silicon Valley Bank, San Francisco, CA (pursuing LEEDv2009 Silver
Certification)
- Avalon Willow Creek Renovation, Fremont, CA
- Walmart.com Photography and Emerging Brand Studio, South San
Francisco, CA
- Rincon Gardens Apartment Rehabilitation, Campbell, CA
We encourage our clients who are leasing spaces and constructing
Tenant Improvements to consider the following green building priorities:
- Lease in a LEED® Certified (or better)
building
- Look for buildings that have operable windows and/or 100%
outside air capable ventilation systems
- Locate your office close to most of your staff to reduce
commuting distances
- Locate your offices within walking distance of mass transit
systems
- Look for buildings with a high exterior window to floor area
ratio
- Reduce your electrical energy consumption by upgrading old HVAC
and lighting systems to newer more efficient systems
- Keep your office density up (fewer RSF/person)
- Look for opportunities to re-use existing improvements and adapt
them for your purposes
- Install ultra-efficient plumbing, fixtures and controls
- Build less hard-walled rooms and instead, invest in relocatable
and reusable systems furniture with high recycled content and easily
recyclable materials
- Focus on consuming less of everything and keeping in-place
materials and improvements where feasible
The biggest gains (especially in reduction of greenhouse gases)
are achievable if a company is successful in significantly cutting
their consumption of electricity and fossil fuels. If that happens,
we will all benefit both in the short term and long term. So
maintain your focus on reducing your dependence on cars, cutting the
amount of power you use, and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Member of US Green Building Council since 2005
A Recognized San Francisco Green Business
* See:
Do the Right Thing! (...But beware of Greenwashing) May,
2007, by J. Edgar Fennie Jr AIA
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