As members of the USGBC, BR+A is committed to Green Building Design / Sustainable Design. We have organized and held Green Building / LEED Training Workshops for our design engineering staff and have many LEED Accredited Professionals. In addition, BR+A has experience with the Green Guide for Health Care™ (GGHC) and members of our firm are participants on the GGHC Roundtable.
It is also important to note that BR+A was able to make significant contributions toward the development and implementation of the new Massachusetts State Energy Code. Spearheaded by Nicholas A. Johnson, PE, CEM, LEED AP the Code was adopted in 2001 and is used today in many states as a model Energy Code.
A majority of buildings designed by BR+A include a multitude of cost-effective energy conservation measures, such as high performance insulation, and glazing, energy recovery systems, high efficiency lighting, day-lighting control systems, building automation systems, air-side and water-side economizers and many other performance enhancing features. We have always designed energy conserving, state-of-the art, life-cycle analyzed HVAC and electrical building systems.
At BR+A, we believe that green development can realize enhanced marketability, enhanced worker productivity, lower operating and maintenance costs, improved amenities and aesthetics, higher initial and residual value, and greater community support – all while constructing the project at standard market rates. The key benefits include:
- Reduced annual operating costs and energy consumption
- Improved feel of space
- Health and productivity gains
- Marketing benefits
- Possibility of streamlined approvals
- Contribution to controlling global greenhouse emissions
A sustainable approach to design and construction incorporates such human and environmental issues as enhancement of health and quality of life; efficient and appropriate use of land, energy, as well as conservation of water and other resources.
Our approach to Green development goes beyond conventional practice by creating a successful fusion of the following goals:
- Resource efficiency - maximizing the efficient use of resources in the design, construction, development and operations of buildings
- Environmental sensitivity - benefiting the surrounding environment
- Attention to human well-being
- Financial success - an important motivation for doing the right thing
Successful green development results from a holistic approach to planning, designing and building. Green design should respond to the integrated nature of building systems, rather than be developed as an independent series of mechanical, electrical, architectural and other systems. Each discipline needs to understand the importance of looking beyond its individual responsibilities to understand how building systems interact. This requires participation of the entire Team early in the design process.
To achieve the above, the Team will be required to exchange ideas that generate integrated, whole-system solutions. Bringing all the “right” people to the table enables a more complete consideration of various needs so that the vision and goals can be realized. In the conventional, linear development process, key people are often left out of the decision-making process or brought in too late to make a full contribution. By working together, both capital costs and operating costs can be analyzed and environmental goals met.
The process needs to start very early. It is far easier and more financially beneficial to maximize the benefits of green planning and design by addressing these issues in the early stages of a project, where a little effort can create large benefits.
Finally, we promote the concept of keeping the planning Team focused on what users really want and need, identifying how to achieve the greatest benefits at the least cost in financial, social and environmental terms, based on life-cycle as well as up-front costs. Although “green” is most commonly used to evaluate how energy, water, and other resources are used in buildings, it can be applied more broadly to ensure that the full range of the end-users’ needs will be met.
The following projects have Achieved LEED Certification:
Gold Certification
- Arizona State University – Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 1
- Genzyme – 49 New York Avenue Science Building
- Cornell University – Weill Hall – Life Science Technology Building
- Harvard Medical School – Warren Alpert Building – DePace Lab – Department of Systems Biology
- Harvard University – Zhuang Laboratory
- Dickinson College – Stuart Hall and James Hall Life Sciences Complex
- Case Western Reserve University – North Village – Middle Building (Bldg. 5)
Silver Certification
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital – The Shapiro Cardiovascular Center
- Duke University Medical Center – Medical Science Research Building 2
- Roswell Park Cancer Institute – Buffalo Life Sciences Complex
- Duke University – Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences
- Duke University – The French Science Center
- Northwestern University – McCormick School of Engingeering & Applied Sciences, Ford Motor Co. Engineering Design Center
- PENN State University – School of Forest Resources
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Brain and Cognitive Sciences Project
- Case Western Reserve University – North Village – North and South Buildings (Bldgs. 1-4, 6 & 7)
Certification
- University of Florida – Genetics and Cancer Research Center
The following projects are Pursuing LEED Certification:
- Harvard University – Jacobsen Laboratories (Gold)
- Harvard University – Schreiber Lab (Gold)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research (Gold)
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts – Department of Mental Health – New Psychiatric Hospital (Gold)
- SUNY, University at Buffalo – School of Engineering & Applied Sciences – New Engineering Building (Gold)
- University of Rochester Medical Center – Clinical and Translational Science Building (Gold)
- EMD Serono – New Research Building (Gold)
- Stamford Hospital – Clinical Expansion Project (Silver)
- Yale-New Haven Hospital – Smilow Cancer Hospital (Silver)
- Duke Medicine – Cancer Center (Silver)
- Max Planck Florida institute – Research Building (Silver)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – Yawkey Center for Cancer Care (Silver)
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – South Tower (Silver)
- Rockefeller University – The Collaborative Research Center (Silver)
- Rice University – Collaborative Research Center (Silver)
- Hackensack University Medical Center – John Theurer Cancer Center (Silver)
- Tufts University School of Dental Medicine – Dental School Expansion (Certification)
- Cleveland Clinic Foundation – Bone Marrow Transplant Unit (Certification)
- Penn State Hershey Medical Center – Cancer Institute (Certification)
- Penn State Hershey Medical Center – Children’s Hospital (Certification)
- Long Island Jewish Medical Center – New Women’s Hospital (Certification)
- Morgan Stanley – Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian – Pediatric Emergency Department (Certification)
- Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island –Clinical Addition (Certification)
- New York University – Center for Comparative Genomics (Certification)
- Harvard School of Dental Medicine – New Research and Education Building (Certification)