Sustainable design, also known as “green design,” seeks to reduce the consumption of nonrenewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments. It is an integrated, holistic approach to building design that can be applied at every stage of the building life cycle, from initial site selection and building design through construction, operations, and final decommissioning. Sustainable design principles include:

• Optimizing site potential
• Protecting and conserving water
• Minimizing consumption of fossil fuels
• Enhancing indoor environmental quality
• Using environmentally preferable products
• Optimizing operational and maintenance practices

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system was developed in the 1990s to standardize measurement of sustainable design achievement and promote integrated, whole-building practices in the building industry. The LEED system calculates performance points in six categories. Based upon total points earned, a building can attain LEED certification at one of four levels.

Cannon Design’s focus on sustainability long predates LEED, however: We have been designing green buildings for over three decades. In the 1970s, before the first energy crisis, we routinely incorporated energy recovery measures into building systems design. In the 1980s, we designed innovative systems for an all-glass building that was hailed as the most efficient office building in the world – consuming just one-third of the energy used by conventionally designed structures of similar size and function. In the 1990s, we were commissioned by the New York State Energy Office to author the state’s Guidelines for Energy Efficient Building Rehabilitation, a publication honored with one of Progressive Architecture magazine’s first awards for research.

We are the only firm whose work has been honored with two Owens-Corning Energy Conservation Awards. The Occidental Chemical Corporation Corporate Headquarters, in Niagara Falls, New York, was one of the first buildings to receive the prestigious Energy Star, a joint citation from the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency honoring excellence in energy performance. The Center for Environmental Science and Technology Management, at SUNY Albany, received Consulting-Specifying Engineer magazine’s Integrator Award, a national citation honoring innovation in architectural-engineering design. More recently, a second Energy Star recognized our work on the corporate campus of Ecology and Environment (E&E), an internationally known environmental consulting firm, and in 2008, E&E’s World Headquarters, built in 1988, achieved LEED Platinum status – only the tenth such building in the United States and the oldest existing building in the world to be so designated. A number of Cannon Design projects are Gold or Silver LEED certified, and many other facilities are currently pursuing LEED certification.

Cannon Design’s commitment to sustainable design and development reflects our core values and dedication to client service. Our single-firm multi-office, or SFMO®, practice approach enables us to focus our staff’s full capabilities to meet client needs, drawing resources from any of our 17 offices across North America and abroad. Over 270 of our professionals are now LEED-accredited, forming a multidisciplinary core group that represents all facets of building design and delivery.

From the outset of a project, we strive to establish close relationships with clients to ensure a continuing dialogue focused on design quality, cost parameters, operational considerations, and schedule. We employ a highly interactive, collaborative design approach and routinely team with our in-house cost estimating group, applying value engineering analysis to ensure that we recommend the most cost-effective technologies. Since sustainable design strategies can yield substantial cost savings over a building’s life cycle and many of today’s technologies carry little or no cost penalty, these practices inform and add value to our work.

Long a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, Cannon Design has embraced and seeks to foster the spirit of innovation, experimentation, and creativity needed to achieve new levels of sustainable design. We strive to create environments that are a thoughtful response to their program mission, physical setting, and functional purpose, seeking the optimal balance of fiscal, environmental, and societal benefits. Our success stems directly from our commitment to client partnering, to design excellence, and to the creation of environments that enhance human culture and improve the quality of life. This is Cannon Design’s legacy and our vision.

By using the latest in BIM software in conjunction with a powerful suite of software applications, Cannon Design can predict how a building concept will perform and operate once built – maximizing quality and encouraging innovation while minimizing the environmental footprint.

Our process enables our clients to understand how the building will perform and Cannon Design’s professionals to make well-informed design decisions quickly. Using the information generated by our suite of analysis tools, our clients can:

• Consider the consequences of different design options
• Assess their risks by exploring “what if?” scenarios throughout the design process
• Improve building performance and occupant satisfaction
• Reduce capital and operating costs
• Minimize the environmental impact of building design, construction and operation

“The greatest opportunities for saving costs over the life of a building occur at the beginning of the design process,” states The American Institute of Architects Energy Design Handbook.

Energy modeling is an effective tool that can be used at any stage of the design process, from concept to completion and throughout the building life cycle.

Cannon Design is a member and active leader of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). We are committed to the principles of sustainability in the design and execution of our operations and our work. Cannon Design embraces the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification program as the benchmark for sustainable buildings and aspires to design all of its projects to the highest possible level of LEED certification. Our projects are benchmarked against the LEED guidelines and when established as a project goal by the client and project team, we pursue LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. Our portfolio includes LEED certified projects across a variety of building types as well as numerous others still in design and construction registered for future certification with the USGBC. Consistent with the Guiding Principles of our Vision and commitment to the conservation of resources, protection of the environment and leadership in sustainable design, over 100 of our staff in multiple disciplines are LEED Accredited Professionals. Consistent with the Guiding Principles of our Vision and commitment to the conservation of resources, protection of the environment and leadership in sustainable design, over 275 of our staff in multiple disciplines are LEED Accredited Professionals, and it is the goal of the firm to have all of our professionals LEED Accredited.

Cannon Design takes a life-cycle approach to materials analysis, employing a selection process that fully integrates clients’ requirements for functionality, quality, and sustainability.

After ascertaining clients’ specific product performance and sustainability objectives, we evaluate an array of products along multiple dimensions, including recycled content, volatile organic compound (VOC) content, biodegradability, potential for future reuse, energy efficiency, cost, durability, and quality. In determining sustainability of products, we also evaluate the sustainable practices of the products’ manufacturers, seeking locally extracted and manufactured materials, low-energy manufacturing practices, and manufacturer-issued material conservation policies and warranties.

Potential product choices are thoroughly analyzed and collaboratively reviewed with clients to determine final selections and to quantify their contribution to the project’s overall sustainable design profile.

Sustainable design is now established as an integral process requiring input from all project stakeholders in the design, construction and operations sequence of new building development. Meeting sustainability targets is now often a regulatory requirement – and one likely to become more significant in the future. As pioneers in the field, Cannon Design’s thoughtful building systems design strategy sets a high standard for environmental performance.

We play a vital role in enabling our clients to commission “environmentally responsible” buildings. We analyze the environmental impact of building design options from the conceptual design phase throughout the project and often into the post-occupancy period. Using advanced modeling techniques, we evaluate the sustainability of design alternatives and decisions. We use the world leader in rating systems, LEED, as the basis of design for every project, regardless of certification requirements. We make extensive use of the proper balance of passive energy control strategies in concert with appropriate applications in state of the art building systems technologies. Our project-appropriate, integrated building system design solutions result in an energy-efficient, safe and productive interior environment.

October 24-28, 2011
Cannon Design will host its 10th Annual Environmental
Awareness Week.

In anticipation of this year’s event, we gathered a group of green thinkers from across Cannon Design to answer a few questions.

Each year, Cannon Design invites thought leaders to speak at Environmental Awareness Week, which contributes to the professional development of our community and our staff and to the profession. We invite our clients (such as the City of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Cleveland Green Building Coalition, Walgreens, Exelon Corporation and Takeda, just to name a few) to attend and learn as well.

We also sponsor evening lecture sessions for the general design community through partnering with universities and professional organizations. In the past, we have co-sponsored sessions with Archeworks, the USGBC Chicago Chapter and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture.

To learn about how you can participate in Environmental Awareness Week, please contact-
Rand Ekman, Director of Sustainability, Cannon Design
Jessica Figenholtz, Chair of Environmental Awareness Week

Please join Cannon Design’s commitment to environmental sustainability at our tenth annual Environmental Awareness Week: October 24 through October 28.

REGIONAL EVENT
Monday, October 24
For more information about Monday’s Regional Events or to RSVP, click the appropriate name for your city to send them a message:

Boston - Mike Cavanaugh                                         
Buffalo/Grand Island – Pat Mahoney                                             
Chicago – Jessica Figenholtz                                     
Los Angeles –  James Balzli                                              
New York City – Andreas Hausler
Phoenix – Jeff Steffensen
St. Louis - Carl Karlen
San Francisco – John Lucht
Toronto – Gabrielle Rossit
Vancouver – Paul Hunter 

FIRM-WIDE EVENT BROADCAST FROM CHICAGO
Tuesday, October 25
10:00 am PDT / 12:00 pm CDT / 1:00 pm EDT

David Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies & Politics, Oberlin College
His career as a scholar, teacher, writer, speaker, and entrepreneur spans fields as diverse as environment and politics, environmental education, campus greening, green building, ecological design, and climate change. He is the author of six books and co-editor of three others. Recent projects include a two year $2.2 million collaborative project to define a 100 days climate action plan for the Obama administration.

FIRM-WIDE EVENT BROADCAST FROM LOS ANGELES
Wednesday, October 26
12:00 pm PDT / 2:00 pm CDT / 3:00 pm EDT

Taryn Mead, Senior Biologist at the Design Table, Biomimicry
With a bird’s eye view on planning, architectural and production challenges, she provides insights into ecological principles that can be used to enhance the way designs fit into the landscape of a place. Her assignments include consulting with corporate clients, researching biological strategies, facilitating workshops with design professionals and biologists, and creating tools to assist in the design process.

FIRM-WIDE EVENT BROADCAST FROM BOSTON
Thursday, October 27
11:00 am PDT / 1:00 pm CDT / 2:00 pm EDT

Edward Glaeser, Professor of Economics, Harvard University
Edward Glaeser studies the economics of cities, and his work has shed remarkable new light on the ways cities grow as well as the issues that permeate our urban areas such as crime, housing, segregation and inequality. He has illuminated the vital role cities play in nurturing and promoting economic and cultural achievement, including entrepreneurship, idea creation and transmission, and even better personal health.

REGIONAL EVENT
Friday, October 28

For more information about Friday’s Regional Events or to RSVP, click the appropriate name for your city to send them a message.

Boston - Mike Cavanaugh                                         
Buffalo/Grand Island – Pat Mahoney                                             
Chicago – Jessica Figenholtz                                     
Los Angeles –  James Balzli                                              
New York City – Andreas Hausler
Phoenix – Jeff Steffensen
St. Louis - Carl Karlen
San Francisco – John Lucht
Toronto – Gabrielle Rossit
Vancouver – Paul Hunter