Sustainable Design

A B Court & Associates is firmly committed to sustainable design as a guiding principle for the 21st Century. We accept the challenge to work toward "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs".1

We took a leading role in developing the "Introduction to Sustainable Design for Structural Engineers" (SEAOSD 2010) and are currently working with the Applied Technology Council on the development of tools for measuring the environmental benefits of earthquake resilient design. We also participate in the California Building Standards Commission's CALGreen Focus Group.

We believe that existing building rehabilitation is one of the greatest contributions that design professions can make to sustainable design by extending the life and improving the performance of the existing buildings at a fraction of the cost and environmental impact of new construction. The stock of existing buildings greatly outweighs that of new buildings coming on line each year; hence, the rehabilitation opportunities are manifestly abundant. Seismic retrofit of these existing buildings can greatly improve the long term performance and reduce the damages and associated environmental impacts in high seismic regions.

In new construction, as in existing construction, we believe that integrated design, with expressed structure serving as finish and as a heat sink and contributor to the HVAC performance of buildings, is a key strategy for sustainable design. Performance based seismic design to optimize the use of materials and to provide seismic resilience in the structural and non-structural systems in order to appropriately protect the buildings systems and contents in the probable earthquakes expected over the life of the structure is a key sustainable design tool and strategy. Efficient and effective use of structural materials reduces the embodied energy and the consumption of resources, both of which become increasingly important to the sustainable design equation as buildings become more operationally energy efficient and as demand for finite natural resources grows. As always, effective use of recycled and reused materials and design for extended life, future adaptive reuse or future deconstruction and reuse remain important strategies contributing to sustainable design.

We have completed several prominent LEED certified projects including the LEED Platinum San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center.

(1) Brundtland Commission, United Nations, 1987