Sustainability has always been part of good design. Bruner/Cott embraces our responsibility to the environment. We believe that the economic use of natural resources is as important as program, comfort, form, and beauty. In a good building, these elements are intelligently balanced. As technology improves and energy becomes more valuable, new strategies are emerging for controlling energy use. We build at the highest industry standards for green design, looking beyond certification, anticipating future trends in sustainability.

Sustainable design and socially responsible design go hand-in-hand. We value the human experience! The built environment must reinforce human well-being. We understand how to specify materials and processes that are good for people and the planet. Daylight, view, air quality, and thermal comfort are the foundations of our design. We are proud of our 40-year commitment to sustainability!

A building is a significant investment in energy, from construction through operation. We design with an eye towards total energy consumption, maximizing savings by minimizing the energy profile of a site. The total energy consumed by a building is the sum of the energy used in its operation (latent energy) and the energy required to make the building (embodied energy) - including the harvesting and shipping of natural resources, manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of materials. Designing sustainably means finding an efficient balance between embodied and latent energy, understanding that latent energy has a far greater impact over time.

Energy efficiency informs our buildings, and has since our earliest days. We were working towards “net-zero energy” before it was widely understood as a sustainable concept. As leaders in design for latent efficiencies, we built early examples of passive solar in 1973, and geothermal in 1978. Our continuing operation of a Rhode Island hydroelectric plant that we built in 1981 offsets three times our office building’s annual carbon footprint. From our very beginnings in 1971, Bruner/Cott pioneered the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, recognizing reuse as a strategy for recapturing a building’s embodied energy along with its historic value, and introducing new systems to create contemporary, energy-efficient buildings.

Buildings must be energy-efficient at all levels, and efficiencies can be gained in each stage of design and construction. Understanding building science and integrated design are the first steps towards low-energy buildings. Latent energy is managed by carefully considering building placement, controlling fenestration, and detailing well-insulated, airtight wall assemblies. Energy modeling helps us to offset the remaining loads with new technology and efficient, innovative mechanical systems. We preferentially select materials with low embodied energy costs, and see value in the embodied energy of an existing structure.

Modeling energy efficiency and measuring results sharpen our design. Our design teams set goals for annual energy consumption relative to building type and climate, use energy models to track goals as buildings develop, and follow through with metering that gives evidence for real performance. We field-test building envelopes to show builders where they can improve. We work with builders to divert construction waste from landfill. With little cost premium, our buildings achieve aggressive results: 75% energy reductions, 60% water use reductions, and 99% construction waste recycling – all beyond “business as usual.”

Aggressive energy goals can be achieved with standard technology and without cost premiums. We work to find low-cost sustainable design options, recognizing that building owners have different levels of resources available. Investment in a more efficient building envelope allows for a smaller mechanical system, reducing initial and operation costs. Thanks to the success of LEED and other certification programs, many products and materials that were once available only at a premium are now industry standard. Four out of five principals at Bruner/Cott are LEED certified. All of Bruner/Cott’s buildings are designed with LEED standards in mind; most are registered for LEED certification. 75% of those certified are at the highest levels of gold and platinum.

Sustainable design continues to develop, and net-zero energy buildings are now a reality on a small scale. The 2030 Challenge urges us to incrementally reduce our carbon footprints to zero. The first step is to design intelligent buildings that simply use less, decreasing the load for on-site renewable energy, and preparing for the smart electrical grids of the near future. Learning, inventing, and making beautiful new places, Bruner/Cott builds on 40 years of a deeply rooted approach to sustainable design.

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Sustainable projects