Why Should We Incorporate Sustainable Design Principles?
At Simon Oswald Architecture, we embrace the principles of sustainable design. Here are seven reasons why you should incorporate sustainable design principles in your next project.
At Simon Oswald Architecture, we embrace the principles of sustainable design. Here are seven reasons why you should incorporate sustainable design principles in your next project.
Architectural design is always changing to meet clients’ needs in new and innovative ways. At SOA, we embrace design ideas destined to become classics.
Also called eco-roofs or rooftop gardens, green roofs are vegetative layers growing on rooftops, and they’re becoming more popular all the time. In fact, some cities are even requiring green roofs as part of new commercial construction.
As an architect, SOA uses local site information and prescriptive code measures to help design structures resistive to Mother Nature’s fury.
An estimated 40% of landfill waste comes from construction sites. However, that statistic can be reduced, at least in part, by some fairly simple practices. When Boone County Government decided to renovate their main building and create an Annex from an existing nearby structure, they set a goal to recycle 50% of the project’s construction
The mission of Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), which operates Shaw Nature Reserve southwest of St. Louis, is “To discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.” Because environmental stewardship education is central to their work, it was important to MBG that even a small restroom facility be
The design for the North Quad at Columbia College presented a unique challenge: How to improve fire lane access without an excessive amount of concrete? After working with the City and the Fire Department, it was determined that ‘Cougar Drive’ should extend further into the heart of campus, and also include a T-shaped turn around
In today’s society it is easy to become accustomed to the ease in which we can buy new things, from phones that need to be replaced every couple of years, furniture that breaks down, or shoes whose soles wear out after six months.
Well, kind of like finding out you have great blood pressure. Or low cholesterol. It’s basically a confirmation of overall great “building health.”
On October 17th I had the pleasure of co-presenting at the Sustainable Living Fair on “Saving Water in your Home or Workplace.” My co-presenter, David Mars, Energy Specialist with Columbia Water & Light, and I shared ways that companies and homeowners can save water.
In order to comply with the City of Columbia’s stormwater ordinance, which requires developers to address both water quality and water quantity, our new building’s site design features a combined bio-retention & detention basin to collect rainwater runoff from the parking lot and other parts of the site.
Over 91% of the lights in SOA’s new building are LED (Light Emitting Diode) fixtures. LED technology has many advantages over compact fluorescent lighting in terms of efficiency, lamp life and disposal.