Sustainability

 

Sustainability requires balancing different frames of time and human perspective.

Compared to the life of a building, the design process is short, often weeks or months rather than decades or longer. The decisions made in design have impact long after a project is complete, and often across future generations. What we intend as sustainable, others will test and confirm. In the end a project is sustainable on its own merits. Our aim is to design for today and for the distant future.

We are committed to innovation and improvement to expand the health and well-being of our communities and to reduce environmental impact. RBA has joined the AIA 2030 Commitment to formalize our approach to advancing sustainable design efforts within the firm and to begin collecting project data that we and the building industry can use to measure progress toward carbon neutrality.

Our approach to sustainability is rooted in ways of thinking and working together:

  • Anchor sustainability in design. We believe experiential, integrative, intentional places make for a better world, and a world that people appreciate and care about.

  • Sustainability is holistic. Work collaboratively with the design team, engineers, experts, builders, and clients to reach goals.

  • Promote human-centered design. Work to understand the human impact of our projects and treat building occupants as partners in building performance and project success.

  • Understand standards and constraints. The better we know the standards of practice, the better we can innovate.

  • Support informed decision-making. Assess project goals for impact, prioritize and focus efforts, and present clear, objective information to empower owners.

  • Seek practical and simple solutions. Reduce consumption and demand to promote smaller, simpler systems.

  • Embrace operations and maintenance of buildings. New buildings become old buildings. Work to extend the life of old buildings by designing for durability, operations and maintenance, and adaptability.

  • Openly share knowledge. Staff education, idea-sharing, and collaborative review are foundational to our practice and office culture.

  • Track progress. Demonstrate measurable outcomes and apply lessons learned to future work.

  • Recognize the cumulative value of smaller decisions. This emphasis achieves a compounding effect that allows feedback and course correction for future improvement.

  • Lead with curiosity, humility, and respect. Clients, consultants, and team members bring different interests and points of view. Be inquisitive. Present information and opportunities objectively. Seek “buy-in” where new practices or systems are proposed.