Feature Article

Greening Your Firm: Building Sustainable Design Capabilities

We have almost a heaven and hell,” says Pauline Souza, of Chong Partners Architecture in San Francisco, describing her firm’s successes and frustrations at greening their work. Mid-sized and large design firms carry a lot of cachet, and clients tend to follow their advice more readily than they follow the suggestions of sole practitioners or small firms. But getting those bigger firms comfortable recommending green solutions—not just on token projects but as a matter of course—takes persistence, dedication, and some effective strategies. “When I had my own firm, it was an agile little sailboat. This is like trying to turn a battleship around,” says John Boecker, of his experiences greening the 500-person L. Robert Kimball & Associates, based in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.

As we at BuildingGreen prepared to launch our integrated online tool, BuildingGreen Suite, in 2003, we interviewed key players in a number of design firms to learn how they manage green building information. These conversations quickly expanded in scope to include questions about how firms build and disseminate expertise in sustainable design, and how they’re enhancing their abilities to provide green buildings for their clients. The core of this research entailed in-depth conversations with green champions at 20 representative firms around the country. Our purpose with this article is to share our findings. While much of this article applies specifically to mid-sized and large design firms, small firms and even sole practitioners can certainly take away lessons as well.

Published May 1, 2004

(2004, May 1). Greening Your Firm: Building Sustainable Design Capabilities. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/feature/greening-your-firm-building-sustainable-design-capabilities