Tag: Energy & Sustainability

The 85,000 square foot Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University will feature two large performance venues. The building, which is pursuing LEED certification under the LEED-NC v2009 rating system, is projected to achieve significant energy cost savings when compared to a baseline building. more

For many of our new building projects, Owners ask about the expected energy costs of the proposed building so that they can financially plan for those costs. Benchmarking against the industry averages is a good first step. The table below, by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), outlines the expected energy costs for code-compliant buildings of various occupancy types.
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IWBI, the International Well Building Institute, launched WELL Building Standard version 2 pilot (WELL v2) on May 31st, 2018. Under the leadership of Rick Fedrizzi (previously CEO and founding chair of the USGBC from 2001 to 2016), IWBI is working to reduce barriers to entry while maintaining features that distinguish WELL Building Standard version 1 (WELL v1) from other certifications in the market. They are keen to entice and push the existing building market towards WELL. The hope is that with the WELL v2 pilot they can close the gap and target this huge market, increasing the equity of the buildings pursuing WELL.  more

It’s officially summer vacation season. Finally.

Time to take trips to the lake or the beach, and go swimming, hiking, biking, fishing, and exploring. Enjoying all these activities usually means planning out several different trips, but Gulf State Park offers all of the above within walking distance of a new hotel built with sustainability in mind.  more

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The WELL Building Standard, or WELL, focuses attention solely on the health and wellness of building occupants. WELL was pioneered by Delos, is administered by
International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), and is third-party certified through IWBI’s collaboration with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI).  more

Campus energy plants produce chilled water, heating water, steam and/or electricity to serve a group of buildings in a common location. These energy plants are a vital key in today’s quest to design buildings with higher energy efficiency, reduced carbon footprints, water saving features, and lower environmental impact. more

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The pursuit of the Living Building Challenge pushes projects to be not just ‘less harmful’ to the environment, but to be at a minimum neutral and at its utmost, a ‘restorative’ impact to the environment.

The Living Building Challenge currently has over 200 projects registered in 14 countries, including the United States, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Haiti, Lebanon, France, Romania, Australia, and New Zealand, in various stages of design, construction, and occupancy.

Similar to LEED, it is a holistic approach to the building design but pushes the boundaries by achieving net positive energy, net positive water, and paying careful consideration to the materials used. Site, equity, beauty, health, and process are also critical components incorporated into the design.  more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected New Orleans Bio Innovation Center (NOBIC) as one of the year’s top Ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects that protect and enhance the environment. The project will be honored at the AIA 2015 National Convention and Design Exposition in Atlanta. more

Resource conservation is important to Newcomb & Boyd and our clients’ sustainability goals. We provide innovative solutions for water conservation and management through the design and commissioning of systems that reduce, reuse and recycle. Whenever feasible, we incorporate strategies to harvest, treat and reuse stormwater, wastewater, potable and non-potable water. more

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At Newcomb & Boyd, we believe in highly functional, high performance buildings. Through integrated design and commissioning, we seek to provide the best value to our clients through conceptualization and implementation of the principles of sustainable design and operations. Our portfolio of more than 60 LEED certified projects represent a wide array of building types – laboratories, higher education, military, commercial, residential, government – and bear testimony to Newcomb & Boyd’s commitment and drive to be a leader in sustainable design. more