Sustainability

Sustainable Design

EskewDumezRipple is a nationally honored architecture, interiors and urban planning firm recognized for producing innovative projects grounded by a strong understanding of context, culture, and environment. We build across the country and around the world, with the goal of integrating beauty and performance.

From the firm’s inception, we have been driven by four enduring core values: Design Excellence, Environmental Responsibility, Community Outreach, and Client Commitment. Every aspect of the practice has been structured to support these ideals. The resulting body of work – ranging from intimate interiors to large urban planning projects with numerous stakeholders – reflects our aspiration to building community, regardless of project scale, budget, scope or complexity.

Our practice’s commitment to culture and civility places public participation at the center of what we do. We work to integrate many voices alongside the constraints of climate, place, and budget to deliver projects that provide the greatest positive impact for the owner, for the user, for the community, and for the planet.

A Sustained Commitment to Sustainability

2002 EskewDumezRipple (EDR) is the first firm in Louisiana to become a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.

2008 EDR is the first Louisiana company to join the ranks of firms signing the AIA 2030 Commitment, pursuing aggressive reductions in design energy performance.

2009

EDR delivers its first of 11 projects earning LEED Platinum certification.

2011

2019

2020

EDR delivers the first laboratory building with measured Energy Use Intensity (EUI) < 120, earning AIA COTE Top Ten recognition.

EDR is the first firm nationally to report whole-portfolio embodied and operational carbon intensity for both new construction and renovation projects.

EDR announces the opening of first net-zero energy affordable housing project able to ‘island’ off the grid, constructed for just $164/sf. The projet operated for 9 days off-grid after Hurricane Ida.

2023 EDR has delivered more than 26 LEED projects that are either certified or actively pursuing certification, the first net zero energy project in Louisiana, and holds experience pursuing the even more aggressive net positive targets of WELL, Fitwel, Net Zero Energy, and the Living Building Challenge.

Whole Design Portfolio Predicted Energy Use Savings

(vs 2003 survey of existing buildings)

A Measureable Approach to Sustainability

Simulation to Study Energy, Carbon, and Cost

At the outset of a project, the best design options can seem difficult to pin down. Early consideration of construction types and materials can create opportunities to save cost and help the environment simultaneously. We use digital simulation technology to explore design scenarios at once and highlight each approach’s merits and drawbacks. Our team includes national leaders in design simulation and a mantra to “simulate early and often” so that ideas can be proved out before detailed design effort is invested.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has committed to achieving a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 by 2030 and zero by 2050, including embodied carbon of building construction. For their Tech Square 3 project a new 416,500 sf high-rise project in Atlanta, they set an aggressive operating Energy Use Intensity limit of EUI 25. The proposed design is efficient, all-electric (to take advantage of a decarbonizing grid), and able to shape its load in accordance with the GridOptimal program. To the left, the “environmental nutrition label” for Georgia Tech’s Tech Square 3 building helps communicate the building design’s data points across a variety of sustainability interventions and is a tool we use across projects.

An “Environmental Nutrition Label” for Georgia Tech’s Tech Square 3 showcases the various metrics the building is designed to achieve in one neat, easy-to-understand visualization.

Our People and Our Commitment to Collaboration

Our studio is composed of individuals from all over the world, a resonant collection of experiences and insights. We’re inquisitive, collegial, determined. Our team isn’t simply the motor that completes the work, it’s the spark from which we draw all our inspiration. Every project begins with listening. We’ll work hand in hand with your stakeholders, testing multiple ideas in immersive ways at varying scales that bring us closer to the finished product. Together we test, we question, we engage. An idea that goes challenged is all the stronger for it.

A Practice Centered on Evidence-Based Design

Considerations for energy, cost, environment, and comfort must all be delicately balanced. We don’t take things at face value. We employ scientific observation paired with real-time data to study the way people use space. Simulation technology makes quantifiable analysis of architectural decisions possible and empowers us to see the implications of our designs before they are built.

A Research-Driven Approach

We make a focused investment in design research—proving what’s possible without sacrificing our core competency: great design in service of our clients. Technology and research augment our design and delivery process, rather than the reverse. In proactively exploring the implementation of cutting-edge tools integrated into a design practice, we elevate the discussion, continuously challenging what’s possible while enabling us to make better-informed decisions.

This outlooks springs from a commitment to delivering the best results for our clients. We don’t presume to have all the answers. In the same way we turn to others for diverse insights, we turn to research to learn how something has been done before, why it’s been done that way, and whether challenging that status quo will advance your project towards a more perfect future. We fold everything we learn into our process, with our work providing the feedback loop for future solutions.

Sustainability in Action

We believe design excellence combines beauty, function, economy, and environmental performance. We start with an awareness of site and climate, look at energy and water use, and consider the consequences of materials choices on the health of occupants, the community, and the environment. Some call this approach sustainable design. We believe it is simply good design.

In the more than twenty-five years since its development, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system has helped transform building practice—not so much through the comparatively small number of buildings (less than 100,000)—that have achieved certification, but by shifting both design practice and the options offered by manufacturers supporting the construction industry. As with any green rating system, the goal is not just to certify that a particular building has earned the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval”, but rather, to bring about market transformation. Because of the existence of LEED and its use by universities, governments, and corporations on their flagship buildings, every homeowner in America can go to their local paint store and has the option of purchasing zero-VOC paint at affordable prices.

So LEED has in many ways succeeded in what it set out to do. And at EskewDumezRipple we use LEED as a discipline for design more than a rating system, and are pleased that 70% of our technical staff hold some form of LEED Accreditation. Over twenty of our projects have obtained or are pursuing LEED accreditation, totaling over 1 million square feet. Our deep knowledge of certification systems enables us to smoothly manage the certification process from start to finish, directly engaging with clients, design teams, and consultants. But many institutions are moving beyond LEED as they strive to be at the forefront of making buildings that are better for their occupants and better for the planet. At EskewDumezRipple, we have experience with many of these systems, including ASHRAE 189.1, WELL Building certification, Fitwel, AIA COTE Top Ten, AIA 2030 Commitment, Living Building Challenge, Just certification, New Buildings Institute Net Zero certification, EnergyStar, Enterprise Green Communities (EGC), Zero Code, Passivehouse certification, and SITES.

The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs

The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs (CODE) is a mixed-use project in Downtown Charlottesville comprised of a new public plaza for the historic pedestrian mall and 215,000 sf of multi-use space, including a strategic combination of coworking, office space, shared amenities, and retail.

CODE is a LEED Platinum certified building, employing systems and technologies beyond even LEED standards, that will increase the fresh air exchange, provide fine-tuned environmental controls allowing for natural ventilation and daylighting.

Tulane at Charity Renovation

New Orleans, Louisiana

Tulane University has committed to serving as anchor tenant in the adaptive reuse of the 1 million square foot landmark Art Deco building that once housed Charity Hospital. Tulane selected the team of Payette and EskewDumezRipple for a 400,000 SF project to design a new home for the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, lab space for the Tulane School of Medicine, and classroom and common spaces to be shared between them and the Tulane School of Professional Advancement—all coming together in a new heart for Tulane’s downtown campus.

CLIENT Tulane University

PROJECT SIZE 400,000 SF

DATE OF COMPLETION

In Progress (2026)

EUI 34

BELOW BENCHMARK 77% (benchmark 147)

CERTIFICATIONS

Pursuing LEED Silver

Tulane has a vision of an innovative, transparent and transformative adaptive reuse of the iconic Charity Hospital building that will serve as the new home for a vibrant learning space for the Tulane community, a new heart for the Downtown Campus and a beacon of Tulane’s commitment to the people of New Orleans. It will also address the critical need for expanded research as well as shared and dedicated workplace environments and educational spaces supporting cross-disciplinary collaborations in person and online.

Dalney Building at Georgia Tech

Atlanta, Georgia

This project combines three seemingly unrelated program elements—a parking structure, an office building, and a biological wastewater reclamation facility—into a single cohesive community asset serving as a central feature of Georgia Tech’s new EcoCommons, a nexus of green infrastructure. The facility was designed to receive, store, filter, and re-use captured rainwater for non-potable domestic use (toilet flushing and landscape irrigation). It was simultaneously designed to host a 100M gallon-per-year blackwater reclamation facility and put this process on display for community education.

Ninety percent of storm water can be handled on site though the permeable concrete parking pad and an attractive bioswale adjacent to the courtyard. All rainwater that falls on the roof, along with all air-conditioning condensate, is collected in the courtyard water feature which then overflows into the main storm water storage cisterns in the parking area. In total, the project enables a 42% potable water reduction from simple code requirements and can handle a 6” rain event managed entirely onsite.

DALNEY BUILDING

Tech Square 3 at Georgia Tech

Designed in collaboration with Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio (RJTR), this 416,500 SF high-rise research building, with an expressive two-tower massing (one at 14 stories and one at 18 stories), will serve as Phase 3 of Georgia Tech’s ambitious expansion in midtown Atlanta known as Technology Square. The project, and its mission to empower Georgia Tech students, faculty, and stakeholders to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition, seeks to benefit from the proximity to and interaction with nearby startups, researchers, labs, corporate innovators, and venture capitalists in this vibrant intellectual environment.

MORE

Differentiation in the massing and the two-tower expression (unified by a single, efficient core) arose from the varied programming to be held within. The two-tower expression simultaneously serves as visual recognition of the philanthropic mission of the project’s two key donors. The 14-story Scheller Tower will house the MBA and Executive Education programs for the Scheller College of Business. The 18-story George Tower will be the new home for the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. The individual towers are unified by a central zone between them, functioning as a communal circulatory pathway where the two towers meet. This thoroughfare continues through the building form, truncating at the podium and spills into a monumental gathering space.

New Orleans BioInnovation Center

The New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC) is a biotechnology laboratory and incubator facility developed on a former brownfield site in downtown New Orleans. Two dominant sustainability considerations drove the team’s decision making—the deliberate infusion of scientifically connected design features and the achievement of durability necessary for a high-turnover incubator facility. As a result, the building was the first laboratory building in Louisiana to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Ninety percent of storm water can be handled on site though the permeable concrete parking pad and an attractive bioswale adjacent to the courtyard. All rainwater that falls on the roof, along with all air-conditioning condensate, is collected in the courtyard water feature which then overflows into the main storm water storage cisterns in the parking area. In total, the project enables a 42% potable water reduction from simple code requirements and can handle a 6” rain event managed entirely onsite.

Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation

A workplace renovation of an 8-story post-modernist building constructed in the 1980s for a private, non-profit mutual insurance company located in Baton Rouge, What started as a simple mechanical upgrade evolved into a complete interior renovation which re-envisioned and rebranded LWCC as a contemporary model workplace with a focus on health and wellness.

LWCC’s existing facility, constructed in 1984, was comprised of 8 isolated floors, typically private offices and high-wall cubicles (many with no view), that experienced frequent complaints about thermal comfort. The design team brought to the conversation peerreviewed research showing that higher levels of air quality, better thermal comfort, access to views of nature, and design choices that promoted physical activity and access to healthy food options all contribute to worker health and productivity.

Tulane University J. Bennett Johnston Hall Renovation

The Tulane JBJ laboratory project provides a compelling illustration that it’s possible through renovation to achieve huge energy savings while promoting a more humane and collaborative environment for occupants. This 63,000sf project transforms 3 floors of an existing building configured in traditional closed, windowless, cellular labs to open, daylit “ballroom” labs with supporting office and collaboration spaces.

Existing glazing was replaced with high-performance, hurricane resistant glazing with automated motorized solar control strategies. Using advanced lighting and ventilation techniques, modeled energy use was reduced to 1/3 that of the national average for lab/office spaces. Floor-by-floor dashboards provide user feedback, with ongoing monitoring indicating that project energy savings are being achieved. The project is also designed with resilience in mind, where laboratory samples are consolidated to “lifeboat” freezer farms with independent emergency power and cooling, so that research work is preserved during hurricane evacuations. The project achieved LEED Gold Certification on a modest budget (construction cost $10M).

MORE TO THE STORY

St. Peter Residential

New Orleans, Louisiana

A $7.4 million affordable housing complex, this project will likely serve as the first in the state of Louisiana to achieve net-zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created onsite. The project was designed to primarily house veterans, specifically single mothers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides a calming oasis intent on building community in a dense urban environment.

Utilizing a combination of passive and active strategies, including a highly efficient HVAC system, lighting controls/fixtures, and appliances, the energy demanded to maintain the health and comfort of occupants is minimal. In tandem with these interventions, a partnership between SBP and Entergy provided the means for 450 solar panels and a battery array capable of producing and storing the same amount of power required to operate the building year-round.

Mya

Salt

This project combines the highest quality affordable and market-rate housing with unique public and private amenities, creative office space, and catalytic community retail. The result is a world-class mixed-use and mixed-income community that connects a diverse group of households through the innovative use of public spaces, community programming, and entrepreneurship.

In the residential portion of the program (with interiors designed by partner architect Farouki Farouki), the design team sought to find efficiencies in a difficult site with opportunities to enhance resident life. While all modules were required to be micro-units under 500 square feet, serrations introduce variety and excitement to what might otherwise have been a stoic exercise in Tetris. Drawing inspiration from the nearby mountain-scapes of Utah, the serrations offer another intended surprise: creating three unobstructed views for every resident within.

MAC

Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada

MAC is a mixed-use project consisting of residential, retail, a Learning Centre and a community cultural space currently in development at 305 Main Street in Vancouver, Canada. This project has been driven by a holistic living heritage approach which explores the cultural heritage of this site and considers foremost the meaning of this place had in the past but also to its ongoing uses and relevance in the everyday life of residents in the present. A conceptual underpinning of “mother trees,” in honor of a former nearby grove of Big Leaf Maple trees called Kemk’emeláy, was developed through community engagement and consultation with local Indigenous communities.

The project will be constructed of mass timber, a system that is modular, economical and sustainable. It was awarded a grant under the Mass Timber Demonstration Program and will meet Step 3 of the BC Energy Step Code, and is targeting the Zero Carbon Building Design Standard (CaGBC).