OUR SUSTAINABLE TOOLBOX

Smart Design

Smart design means several things. It means creating flexible spaces that can be used for multiple purposes and also easily adapted to changing needs over time; for example, learn why and how we strive to avoid additions. It means using daylighting to transform dark, dreary spaces. It often means creating larger public spaces such as living rooms and playrooms, and keeping private spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms relatively small. It also means remaining aware of durability and incorporating materials and techniques that will stand the test of time. For contemporary lifestyles, it sometimes means creating spaces that are casual but at the same time well organized and structured, so they can accommodate more formal uses with ease. Finally, it means facilitating sustainable lifestyle choices such as recycling, composting, low-impact landscaping and water conservation.

Building Science

Many green builders emphasize the trappings of green construction: bamboo flooring, composite decking, recycled glass tiles. We understand the importance of sustainable materials, but we also believe a truly "green" approach must go beyond the surface finishes. Building science focuses our attention on this beyond and the ways in which the different components of your house—from your windows to your wiring, from your insulation to your ventilation—work together as a system. Our goal is to maximize performance of this entire system, which requires attention to the ways in which various materials, techniques and strategies impact each other and your house as a whole.

Environmentally Preferable Materials

Our "green" approach goes beyond materials but it doesn't ignore them either. Environmentally preferable materials are those that improve the long-term performance of a home; that do not pose health risks to the occupants; and whose sourcing, manufacture and transport we can reasonably verify to be low-impact.

We rely on a number of certification programs in order to identify environmentally preferable products such as The Energy Star program, which certifies energy efficient appliances and heating and cooling equipment, and The Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies sustainably harvested wood products. But we also rely on our own in-house research and collaborative relationship with local suppliers to make sure that our building materials are effective and environmentally responsible, and that our clients have as many environmentally preferable options available to them as possible.

Waste Management Policy

While recycling rates for construction and demolition debris are relatively high in MA (71%) thanks to aggressive statewide waste reduction initiatives, we can do better. With an ambitious and rigorously implemented waste management policy it is possible to achieve diversion rates of 85% of higher. Not only are we striving to achieve this on a project-by-project basis, we also do everything we can to eliminate waste generation on the job site: the less we take out of a house and the more we reuse the less trash we generate. It's simple, it saves money and it instills a great deal of personal satisfaction for everyone involved in the project.

Tracking, Transparency & Documentation

You can't know if you're winning if you don't keep score. And you can't know how your work is holding up if you don't revisit your projects over time.

On all of our major renovation and weatherization projects we establish what the baseline energy usage is, and we work with the homeowner to measure post-project usage over time so that we can evaluate the effectiveness of our work. Similarly, we regularly revisit past projects to monitor what aspects are holding up well and which are prone to premature failure. This enables us constantly to improve our material selections, construction techniques, and design strategies, and to establish aggressive benchmarks with regard to how long siding should hold a coat of paint, for instance, or how many years a wood railing should remain rot-free. Finally we are working to develop records and means to measure our progress in other areas including water conservation, home health, materials use, and waste management.

We are committed to making the results of our tracking available to the industry (minus any information that would enable identification of the house or the homeowner) so that others can learn from our experience.