Remodeling Using Green
“I think that I shall never see…a poem lovely as a tree.”
Joyce Kilmer, 1913
This 100 year-old poem has become the hallmark of the current worldwide movement to focus on maintaining and restoring our environments to healthy places to live and work. A tree as a symbol of green and sustainability is even more powerful as it branches into every decision we make in the creation of the man made world.
Of course, in a more practical sense, the goals of Remodeling Using Green are to put the Earth back into balance. To that end, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has created an advocacy program identified as LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design).
Brim Consulting LLC, Architects offers services relating to the development of “Green Building” profiles for our clients. We use the program, outline and requirements of the USGBC and its advocacy of the LEED program. Jerrold Brim, a principal of BCL, is an accredited professional with a LEED AP designation. BCL offers assistance in obtaining LEED certifications for various building formats and structures. This includes neighborhood development, new construction, existing buildings, homes, commercial and retail interiors, schools and healthcare and laboratories and building additions. Brim Consulting Architects also addresses other state and local mandated programs.
Sustainable design, protection of the natural environment, controlled use of energy, reduction of the carbon footprint and the use of replaceable materials are the cornerstones of BCL’s Remodeling Using Green effort.
The following areas of concern are addressed in BCL’s reviews:
A. Evaluation and development of potential building sites
B. Election of more efficient operating, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems
C. Use of more efficient energy sources
D. Use of exterior and artificial natural light
E. Energy effects of building enclosures
F. Natural light and other ventilation applications
G. Selection of sustainable building finishes and materials
H. Building maintenance and operations
I. Continuous and ongoing management processes
As the LEED program is developed to performance standards, assistance is offered in the evaluation and selection of sustainable building techniques to assist in both addressing the standards and obtaining certification.
BCL will also assist clients in making Remodeling Using Green decisions related to site development, water and energy conservation, insulation values, etc. This applies to projects which demand sensitivity, sustainability and “Green” design, but do not require certification.
In addition, BCL also addresses the issues of specific material or manufacturer selection and performance design and specifications and helps analyze, compare, audit and evaluate building cost differences as to their deductive or additive natures.
All these services can be integrated into our efforts and applied to both new construction and remodeling of existing residential environments for Green Building advocates, Mobility Impaired, and Interior Design Clientele.
“I think that I shall never see…a building lovely as a tree.”
Jerry, 2010
