Sustainable Design

Our Integrated Sustainability Services allow us to incorporate green methods and intentions into our projects in an exacting and intelligent manner.

Coburn has been at the forefront of sustainable design for nearly two decades.  We have designed LEED platinum projects, large solar arrays, Net Zero residential and commercial buildings, and provided consulting services to third parties and municipalities.  Our principals have given presentations, spoken at conferences, and testified in front of Congress at the Field Hearing on Energy Efficient Planning and TOD.   

 We not only believe in sustainable design but also feel strongly that deep levels of sustainability can be reached in any project that prioritizes that outcome without compromising a cost effect result and exceptional design.  To achieve this, we have brought much of the decision making for sustainability in-house, analyzing potential methods and features on a cost-benefit and constructability basis, ensuring that the dollars spent on environmental outcomes have the largest possible impact to the project and its footprint.  This method also allows the architectural design and sustainability features to be developed simultaneously, creating an integration not often seen on deeply green projects, allowing for design excellence on all fronts. 

Between our in-house knowledge and our strategic partnerships with industry leading experts we can gauge a project’s energy performance very early in the process, usually within the first few weeks, and continue to monitor and guide that throughout the design process.  This allows for smart decisions to be made up front regarding construction cost and features as well as ensuring a predictable outcome at the completion of the work.  Additionally, we realize that within the heading of sustainability there are a host of worthwhile areas of focus an owner might wish to achieve and we can help our clients prioritize and understand the benefits and tradeoffs of each one, whether that is energy efficiency, resource conservation, durability, indoor air quality, wellness, or others. 

 We are committed to creating great places.  Designing health, environmental responsibility and energy efficiency into our architecture from the outset is a critical step in that effort.