SAGA

While not all clients knock on our door with an environmental agenda, all share the desire to build the most responsible building possible given their financial goals. Saltonstall Architects Green Agenda (SAGA) focuses on guiding clients through a matrix of decisions that raise owner awareness of smarter building concepts. Our discussion of sustainable design focuses on three interdependent areas affecting project design decisions.

The first area, the project community, identifies the individuals and groups driving the project and the groups affected by a completed building. This could include the owner or project user on one level, but might also include neighbors, customers, regional groups, or even global cultures affected by building project decisions. While our client’s goals are our first priority, we seek to raise an owner’s awareness of the broader community impacted by our design work.

The second area, economy, incorporates the financial implications of project decisions. Every design decision has an up-front and long-term cost implication. Discussions of the project economy start with basic questions like “Will my business be profitable in the new facility?” or “Can I afford the house I want to build?” Also considered are life cycle cost assessments, impact on product markets, analysis of the costs of interdependent building systems, and raised awareness of building decisions on larger economies. Each project decision impacts the client’s budget and a much broader set of economic systems.

The third area, the environment, is often the missing link in traditional building decision processes. While rooted in a long-term goal of environmental stewardship, our design discussions are focused on very practical issues that include durability, energy efficiency, resource efficiency, and other simple methods for increasing building performance.

John Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line theory defines a sustainable business as one that achieves a successful balance between social, economic, and environmental goals. At Saltonstall Architects, we see a successful design process as one that maximizes the value achieved in each of the three areas defined above given the specific needs of our clients. Whether it be through a client’s raised awareness of the implications of building decisions, or design and construction of a high-performance building, we see each project as a catalyst for positive change.