Blog Posts By Author: Shaun Hannah

Several weeks ago, I sat on a panel at the 2009 ARDA Convention in Orlando to discuss sustainable design. The session was titled Sustainable Design While Sustaining Your Bottom Line, and one of its educational overlays was to discuss sustainable design in the context of the current economic market.

It was a balanced panel that covered design and strategies as well as LEED and the U.S. Green Building Council. The first part of my message covered what sustainable design is, what its drivers are, and some of the challenges. The second part covered design strategies and what we need to move forward to include sustainability on our projects. I spoke about the need for having a green vision through return on investment lenses, and about the need to think long term rather than first cost and the need to emphasize what you will get in return.

However, the deeper message I was trying to get across is the need for a 'new map'...a paradigm shift…a change in thinking about how we view sustainability. That shift happened for me awhile back while exploring an interest I had in systems thinking, where interconnectedness and relationships in a system demonstrate how small changes can have big impacts. It was then driven deeper when I had children and the focus of intergenerational thinking came into view. It became suddenly apparent that the choices this generation makes today have an impact on future generations.

In my panel presentation I used an often quoted piece of wisdom from Einstein: "Problems cannot be solved with the same awareness that created them." Looking at something familiar from a different vantage point can lead to insight and change. And change brings about adaptation and opportunities for growth. The current market is bearing witness to this now as businesses are having to adapt and look for opportunities for growth in an effort to sustain their livelihood. Their shift in thinking will hopefully incorporate sustainability into the evolution of their newly adapted business models. As another Earth Day comes into the forefront of people’s minds this week, I am hopeful that it sparks a change in thinking…whether for pragmatic reasons such as operational savings or consumer demand, or holistically deeper seated…like our impact on the future.

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend some great sustainable design sessions at the Greenbuild 2008 Conference in Boston. Two of the more inspiring and very motivating discussions were given not by architects, but by naturalists deeply rooted in looking to nature and biology to help solve our green building challenges. For us designers who skimmed through our biology and natural science classes, take note. Biologists are now coming to the design table.

The idea of synthesizing research in the natural environment with design decisions for the built environment is a fascinating springboard for solving challenges and creating opportunities for innovation. At the heart of this is biomimicry and the Biomimicry Guild. Biomimicry is the relatively new science that basically asks the question: What can we learn from the 3.8 billion years of research and development that nature has already invested in? And how can this inform our built environment?

One session titled “Beyond Platinum: Revolutionary Green” was given by three presenters, one of them being Dayna Baumeister who is a co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild. Besides providing some very engaging dialogue about sustainability, she posed the notion of creating conditions conducive to life. She and her co-presenters painted a very compelling picture about how we need to think about sustainability holistically, much like biologists who use systems thinking (understanding the components of a system in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems). Understanding relationships (building, nature, occupant) and contributions to a ‘system’ is key.

The other motivating discussion was the closing plenary for the conference given by E.O. Wilson and Janine Benyus (co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild and author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature). Theirs was a call to designers to become students of nature. Their message was to let nature inform our designs by looking at a project site and asking the questions “how are the organisms meeting their needs here?” and “how can our building function as well as nature in this location?” Valid questions that approach design decisions in a different manner….questions in which we need those biologists at the table to help us find answers. If you are interested in learning more, go to: www.asknature.org and www.biomimicryguild.com.

Recently I was in Denver on a business trip. The project team was invited during our lunch break to tour a “green” office building which was just down the street from where our meetings were being held. Not only was it a good opportunity to provide a break in our agenda, but it was also an unexpected surprise to learn from a “green case study.” 

The building we toured was The Alliance Center, which is an office building for non-profit tenants and a meeting place for collaboration with non-tenants. It has received various certifications for its renovations to increase energy and water efficiency, improve indoor air quality, and reduce waste. It has been awarded LEED Gold for Existing Buildings, LEED Silver for Commercial Interiors as well as Energy Star. It does a great job of educating the tenants and visitors with informative placards and showcasing its green features.

It was interesting to see how the Alliance Center fosters a collaborative work environment among all of the tenants by providing shared office space and conference rooms as well as equipment. They even have a common location for all of the tenants’ mailboxes with the intent of creating “chance conversations” and social interactions among the various businesses. They have labeled it “The Water Cooler Effect.” Not only are the tenants working in a more efficient building with better indoor air quality, but also in a building that fosters social relationships…something we should strive for in all of our buildings.

If you are interested in taking a virtual tour, then click on: http://allianceforcolorado.org/tour.html

With 'green' being everywhere in the media, there has been speculation as to whether or not we have reached a tipping point and that the green design trend has reached its saturation. It is not uncommon now to see articles and TV shows on environmental issues and green design and advertisers selling eco-friendly products. Issues of global warming, greenhouse gases and carbon footprints are becoming mainstream and people are more conscious of the environmental concerns.

In this light, hotel operators are seeing the merits that green design can bring from a business and marketing sense. Energy and water conservation, waste reduction and eco-friendly housekeeping are ways that hotels can have a positive impact on the environment as well as the bottom line. Some of the environmental programs being used by the hotel industry are transparent to the guest experience and others provide an opportunity for bringing awareness to the guest the impact that we all have on the planet. Even more noteworthy are the environmental programs that help address social and community issues.

As designers, we have the great fortune to positively impact countless people on a daily basis with the ‘placemaking' we create for our clients. The environmental impact of these special places continues on even after the media moves its focus onto the next ‘big' issue, whatever that may be. Creating meaningful places with an environmental responsibility and coupling that with the client's environmental commitment and social responsibility will have a lasting impact.

The benefits of green design, financially and socially, are too great to be considered a trend that will pass. As architectural and interior design trends fall in and out of favor, designers will still need to account for environmental and social factors. The buildings may look different in the future, but they will still be designed for the underlying environmental and social factors that help shape the place.