PlaybookEcoWeacknowledge...Thatbuildingsand the construction industry are two of the greatestif not the greatest-emitters of carbon dioxide worldwide, 40-50% by various measurements. That buildings and the construction industry contribute significantly to climate change, resource depletion, environmental health degradation, habitat degradation, and biodiversity loss. That we have fewer than seven years to dramatically reduce or eliminate our carbon emissions before the effects of those emissions become irreversible: famine, drought, floods, conflict, displacement. That only 27.8% of the world’s energy is from renewables. That the design and construction industries, which in much of the Western world are the product of a white male-dominated culture, contribute directly and indirectly to the vast and increasing economic, social, cultural, and environmental disparities of the global citizenry. Studio O+A’s Guide to Design With Our Future in Mind
01 The Energy Source for Big Achievement Is Passion This Is a Handbook For a Revolution Designer Stories: Verda Alexander 02 Engagements & Action Client ConsultantEngagement&Contractor Engagement Internal DesignerExternalActionActionStories: Al McKee 03 Materials & Products Healthy for One & for Everyone Human EnvironmentalHealth Health Carbon DesignerCaseSocialResouceImpactAnalysisHealthStudiesStories: Lauren Harrison 04 Minimal Waste Think DesignerCaseDesignDesignDesignAheadforRecoveryforReductionforRedesignStudiesStories:Meredith Quinn Page 11 Page 05 Page 23 Page 43 Table of Contents Introduction
05 Social Equity Equity Means Everyone Think WellnessInclusivelyHubInclusiveConnectivityCaseStudiesDesignerStories:Rodly Jean 06 Connect to Nature Biophilic Design Benefits Biophilic Design Principles Nature Engaged Nature Evoked Case DesignerStudiesStories: Alex Pokas 07 Reimagine the Design Process Greening the Process Keeping Workflow on Track Designer Stories: Lauren Perich 08 Closing Page 61 Page 77 Page 95 Eco Playbook Page 103
The01EnergySourceforBigAchievementIsPassion Eco Playbook
-Bill McKibben, The End of Nature
Verda Co-FounderAlexander/Studio O+A October (Again)
This playbook is written from O+A’s perspective, in our voice and about our journey of discovery in an incredibly complex arena. We are not experts, do not profess to be experts and do not presume to teach or preach. We want to help bring needed change to our industry, leading by example if we can, but also following and celebrating the lead of others. This book is revolutionary in that, for us, it is uncharted territory; we are forging a new path for design.
“There is a tendency at every important but difficult crossroads to pretend that it’s not really there.”
The Eco Playbook is a primer on how to design with the impact on our planet always in mind; how to utilize the limited resources we have in effective ways, rejecting harmful materials and embracing natural systems; and how to serve our community and be inclusive in the way we do business.
Terra2021Incognita
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It is O+A’s manifesto, laying out a new way of working that embraces the radical change our profession needs and pledging to move fast to address the climate crisis.
That buildings and the construction industry are two of the greatest—if not the greatest—emitters of carbon dioxide worldwide . The building sector contributes to 40% of worldwide carbon emissions.
Clock.”
#ActInTime”-Climate
That only 27.8% of the world’s energy is from renewables. That the design and construction industries, which in much of the western world are the product of a white maledominanted culture, contribute directly and indirectly to the vast and increasing economic, social, cultural, and environmental disparities of the global citizenry. That these disparities not only result in a built environment that disproportionately excludes the input and impact of minority, indigenous, and economically disadvantaged individuals and groups, but also results in these groups being disproportionately affected by climate change,
We acknowledge...
That buildings and the construction industry contribute significantly to climate change, resource depletion, environmental health degradation, habitat degradation, and biodiversity loss. That we have fewer than seven years to dramatically reduce or eliminate our carbon emissions before the effects of those emissions become irreversible (famine, drought, floods, displacement, conflict).
The world has a deadline. Let’s make it a lifeline. It is time to synchronize our watches. Everyone. Everywhere.
That “the planet has a budget. A carbon budget. We must end fossil fuels & transition to a just sustainable future.
These were our team member Sean Houghton’s impassioned words and the foundation for this playbook. Their anger was the spark that set us all on fire (December 2020). resource depletion, environmental health degradation, and other issues that are the byproduct of decisions made by the design and construction industries. In other words—underrepresented and disadvantaged groups and individuals have become and are increasingly becoming the collateral damage of the decisions of the privileged few. That CALGreen, LEED, LBC, and WELL are great beginnings, but not an end. That our own shortcomings with regard to sustainability, environmental and social justice, and biodiversity commitments must be remedied. That every decision we make has an impact on the issues previously addressed, and that we must take action to ensure that every decision we make in the future does not come without an acute awareness of its many impacts. That this will require a radical change to our thinking, our approach, and our decision making moving forward, and we must make actionable commitments now, before it is too Thatlate.whatever commitments we make must not exist in a bubble that is ultimately self-serving - that as thought and action leaders, we need to speak up for the design and construction industries, to lift up and directly engage the voices and perspectives of underrepresented and disadvantaged groups and individuals, and to work to build a coalition and a network that commits unwaveringly to collective action.
Swimming Pools on Fire
For activism of any kind to be, successful converts to the cause must take whatever path to enlightenment gets them there.
This is the road many of us have travelled to the brink of climate disaster. Good intentions lying dormant because individual action seemed futile against the scale of the problem and anyway, we hadn’t read the book. But now, as Verda says, there’s momentum: the momentum of an arctic blast rolling toward Texas or rivers jumping their banks in France or fires advancing on LA’s swimming pools, and people outside the hug-a-tree community are feeling an urgency to do something.
Eco PlaybookDesigner Stories: Verda Alexander 01 9
Bill McKibben is one of environmentalism’s best-known voices and one of the earliest to warn that the path we were on 30 years ago was not sustainable. (We’re still on it). Like a lot of people generally supportive of our planet, Verda knew McKibben’s book by reputation without actually having gotten around to reading it. But she read the New Yorker article. “I read it three times and it was like: Oh my God. Yes! Climate change. I need to wake up.”
Verda Alexander, one of the founders of O+A, is the leader of the company’s design activism and its fiercest advocate for changing the way her industry does business. Her journey to that advocacy, however, was indirect. It started with a book she didn’t read. “I had this pile of New Yorker magazines,” she says, “The cover had this really evocative photo of a swimming pool in LA with the hill blazing behind it. I noticed the name of the author and I thought why does that name sound familiar—this is so embarrassing—Bill McKibben, who wrote The End of Nature about 30 years ago? A friend of mine loaned me the book and I felt terrible because I never returned it.” She laughs. “And I never read it!”
“I think that this last year of pandemic crisis mode has shown us that the unthinkable can happen and who knows what unthinkable thing is going to happen next?” Verda says. “I believe there is a lot of momentum with corporations wanting to do the right thing, realizing that they can move the needle and individuals realizing that anything they do makes a difference. We have to approach it from all angles. We don’t have a choice.” Is she optimistic? “I can only hope. I have to be hopeful. I have to be able to wake up in the morning and get out of bed.”
Verda admits to a certain cultural resistance to the environmental movement back when McKibben was first sounding his alarms. Her father is a soil scientist and her natural rebellion at home may have entangled some of the family’s early environmental sympathies. “I also feel like if you were an environmentalist even ten years ago, it sucked. Because nobody cared. I think it was just too gloomy to try at that point and I feel now there’s a momentum. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve jumped on the bandwagon, but the momentum is helping me feel like there’s something that can be done. And that I can do.”
ExternalInternalContractorConsultantClientCONTENTSEngagementEngagementEngagementActionAction &Engagement02Action Eco Playbook
“Effectively,Radicalizedchangeisalmost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation and -Simonconsensus.”Mainwaring At O+A, climate action started with lunch. Late in 2019 a team of interested staffers met periodically over lunch to discuss what we as a company could do to address the growing urgency of climate change. The carbon-savvy among us ordered salad; those new to the cause ordered meat, but a consensus arose that as professionals in an industry that contributes to the problem, we had a responsibility to help solve it. Action 2020 was the name we chose for a program of outreach, new initiatives and new alliances through which we hoped to engage the issue. Then COVID hit and 2020 became a mostly digital year. Many months later, Action 2021 is shaping up to be more hands-on. We understand that our early efforts were a microcosm of what’s been happening across the industry: designers and clients, consultants and contractors getting together to figure out what they—what we—can do to make things better. We’re especially looking forward to getting back to lunch.
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Business as Usual,
Crunch the Numbers Develop return-on-investment information that demonstrates the bottom-line benefits of a climate-friendly workplace. Emphasize the recruitment and retention advantages.
Measure Commitment Make climate impact a part of your initial discussions with a client and determine what level you, as a firm, are committed to bringing regardless of client goals. Be Clear and Candid Outline steps by which a client can follow a project’s environmental progress. Build trust by acknowledging difficulties and being forthright about budget and schedule impacts.
According to a 2017 Glassdoor survey, 75% of employees ages 18 to 34 expect their employers to take a stand on important issues. At O+A, we’re developing the template for a legacy document to be included in our closeout package. It’s a kind of project map of the space for future occupants and designers noting areas that are prepped for salvage and reuse.
Leverage Progress Identify a client’s existing efforts at sustainable operations and link them to a design plan that expands what they have already accomplished.
When O+A’s eco advocates suggested “rules of engagement” for accepting a client, the first reaction from our Business Development team was stony. “You want us to what?” But as the discussion progressed, it became clear most of our clients and potential clients were already focused on these issues. It’s common now in an RFP to have questions about our sustainability and social equity policies. Far from being an impediment to landing a project, taking such things seriously is often a condition of making the shortlist. For clients who are not there yet, there are things a design firm can do.
Client Engagement
Engagement & Action
Eco Playbook
Eco Playbook 02 Start Early Encourage the client to engage shortlisted construction bidders early so all parties can take part in identifying reuse opportunities and potential strategies before design development begins. Put It in Writing Spell out environmental, social and human health practices in your letters of agreement. Build on existing standards like AIA’s sustainability contracts. Set goals that quantify flexibility. 13
When a challenge is as vast as climate change people everywhere are working on the problem in their own way. O+A looks for specialists who have been working on climate issues long enough to have established a track record. We think learning from each other, promoting each other’s successes and innovations is a way of converting the strides one company makes into progress for the industry.
Check Under the Hard Hat Find partners who are vocal about their values and sharing their knowledge with others. Work with GCs, MEP, lighting and other consultants committed to green building methods and high-performance building systems. Cast a Wide Net Seek out minority-owned companies. Having successfully navigated the traditional systems, they are often places of vision and experimentation.
Consultant & Contractor Engagement
An Annual Business Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau found 80,727 minority-owned construction companies in the U.S. in 2018. No data yet on the postpandemic number.
Engagement & Action Eco Playbook
Keep It Going Build relationships outside of projects to amplify a partner’s efforts and continue momentum. Invite consultants and GCs into your office to share their capabilities and knowledge through educational presentations. Eco Playbook 02 Plan With the Operatives Collaborate with consultants and GCs early in the process to identify specific opportunities a project presents. Make executing sustainability initiatives a shared goal for all. 15
Internal Action Use Your Might Focus a professional development program on sustainable and just Encourageinitiatives.andprovide support for employees to acquire LEED, WELL, Healthy Materials, Living Futures and other certifications. Institute employee training initiatives that advance the firm’s goals: JEDI training for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion; Life Cycle Assessment and Living Building Challenge training for sustainability and green building goals; general eco training during onboarding to bring new staff into alignment with the firm’s climate culture. Provide an environment rooted in social equity and inclusion by increasing mentorship, representation, growth opportunities and a sense of belonging. How do you steer an established firm onto a new and disruptive path? Our eco team realized quickly that meaningful change at O+A would have to begin with a meaningful look in the mirror. It was easy to come up with recommendations for our clients, consultants and contractors—but could we live by the same rules ourselves? Our Action Items fall under four codes of conduct. We think these are the codes that will unlock a new O+A: Create a Process Develop a new design process that incorporates enhanced sustainability and diversity measures and scores each project. Realign the firm’s core values, vision and mission statements toward a more sustainable and inclusive future. Normalize conversations around diversity and develop hiring procedures to improve diversity at the firm. Establish comprehensive employee wellness initiatives. Engagement & Action Eco Playbook
Be Open Pursue a B Corp certification and enter the firm’s profile on the Living Futures and Just Organizations platforms. Increase internal transparency and communication between leadership, marketing, business development, staff and the external community. Eco Playbook 02 Participate Join additional pledges and certificates. Host knowledge-sharing seminars and open the firm’s space to environmental activists, thinkers and specialists for presentations and networking. 17
External Action
Be Open Invite viewpoints outside our industry including anthropologists, sociologists, politicians, community leaders, factory workers, scientists, engineers and artists. Help to amplify the work and thoughts of others. Be generous and open-source with our knowledge and research. Share the journey, mistakes and all, through graphics, articles, books, initiatives and case studies.
Create a Process Promote manufacturers and partners who are taking action with good intentions. Develop a preferred product and manufacturers list and be vocal about what we will and won’t specify. Push manufacturers to develop more environmentally conscious products and socially just operations.
O+A cares deeply about our industry and wants to see it thrive. We believe we can move the needle dramatically if designers join forces and become leaders in climate change action. That means outward-facing policies that break some old habits around secrecy, competition and project priorities. This is a time to join all firms together and work with our colleagues in manufacturing and construction to remake the industry:
Engagement & Action Eco Playbook
Eco Playbook 02 Participate Encourage community engagement amongst employees. Provide employees with paid time off for civic action. Use Your Might Develop community give-back programs through donations, pro-bono work and volunteering. Lobby for local, state and federal policies that push the envelope on sustainable architecture. Rally the troops to engage partners in the larger purpose and the exciting prospect of being leaders in a changing industry. 19
The OnLessRoadTraveled.Foot.
Eco PlaybookDesigner Stories: Al McKee 02 21
If the design world is to win enough recruits to turn global warming around, it will have to develop strategies for getting people engaged. One way is to identify in a colleague’s or a client’s existing practice a climate “bank account” they didn’t know they have, an interest or a habit that has already started them down the road to sustainability. For someone like Al to see himself suddenly as a radical practitioner of the new climate ethos feels refreshingly mainstream. It’s a path to further action and a catalyst for greater engagement.
Can climate engagement be backdated?
Al McKee has never owned a car. Apart from a semester of driver’s ed in high school, he has never driven a car. Al is 68 years old. “Yeah, it’s weird,” he says. “Or maybe I should say it used to be weird when I was younger. Now it’s just—what? My brand?” Al is O+A’s Head Writer, which means brand is something he thinks about a lot. “If I had stayed in Missouri not having a car would have definitely marked me as, I don’t know, Antifa? Or, in those days I guess, a Communist. It wouldn’t have been good. But I got out of my little town as soon as I could and went to San Francisco, went to London. And in those places no car was no big Thatdeal.”theclimate crisis has made “no car” a big deal in a positive way is one of those pranks history sometimes plays on the hapless human species—much like the prank of making all that good stuff we once labeled “civilization” a gradual process of burning up the planet.
Al says he would feel vindicated if there had been any righteous purpose behind his car-less lifestyle. He admits its low carbon impact is a benefit he was not consciously seeking. “I’m afraid I’ve kind of reverse-engineered my environmental awareness. It wasn’t the motivating factor, but I’m happy to accept the result. It’s like discovering you have a bank account you didn’t know about, and it’s been collecting interest all these years.” The environmental interest Al has accrued over 50+ years of taking the bus, taking the train, riding in the backseat or simply walking has left him with a not entirely defensible sense of latitude. “I have to say I do take long showers without guilt because—you know, I’ve never owned a car.”
Clearly enjoying his newfound status as a mobility role model (though careful to strike the right note of eco humility), Al says, “Shoes. I’ve burned through a lot of shoes in my life. What is the carbon impact of shoes?”
Material03 Products&CONTENTS Choosing Materials to Reflect Your EnvironmentalHumanValuesHealth Health Carbon Impact Social Health Eco Playbook
-Janine“GreenforGroundworkChangechemistryisreplacingourindustrialchemistrywithnature’srecipebook.”Benyus
A
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“I miss the stuff,” O+A Senior Designer Cathy Barrett said. She was talking about the materials library long out of reach during the pandemic’s enforced work-from-home period and what she was looking forward to when the office finally reopened. The stuff—carpet samples, wood and tile samples, little cuts of textile and stone—is what a lot of designers love most about their work. You assemble a tray of stuff and that becomes the furniture and millwork, the floors and walls of your project. Every designer knows “the stuff” does not always meet the highest environmental standards, but as O+A’s eco team dug deeper we were startled to learn the full extent of the problem. It was like learning your best friend has been pulling off armed robberies. Some of the materials used to build our model workplaces are unregulated industries or are brought to market under socially untenable conditions. Surely the low-hanging fruit of design reform is eliminating harmful materials from our practice. Easy, right?
The challenge for designers committed to climate action is… the action. At O+A, we’re all in agreement that we have to change our habits, but “change” is an active verb, and in the daily scrum of work the pull of “habits” can interfere. How do we maintain the dedication, the concentration, to act consistently in the planet’s best interest? Our designers are big on checklists. (Have you noticed?) While a list may seem an elementary tool, our team believes that simple reminders can help with climate clarity when choosing materials. The chart on this page lists some things to require of products we select and companies we do business with. Think of it as that note on your calendar to “Call Mom.” You want to do it. You intend to do it. You know it’s the right thing to do. So do it. Eco
Material & ChoosingProducts Materials to Reflect Your Values
Playbook
Eco Playbook 03 renewablePromoteresourcesModel practiceshealthyandsystemsPutpurpose over profit Lobby for the greater good ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH resourcesWastingnaturalthePollutingair,landorwater ordeforestationAcceleratinghabitatlossA carbonhighimpact HUMAN HEALTH thatIngredientsdamage the body’s systems IngredientslinkedtodiseaseIngredientsthatareallergenichealth-threateningthatIngredientsaggravateconditions SOCIAL HEALTH Harm communitiestoofExploitationtheirworkers Discrimination by gender,race,etc. Production in harsh or conditionsunsafe We look for companies making strides to... We are staying away from companies who show... 25
One of the heartening things about the toxicity challenge is the multitude of activists already deeply engaged.
It’s a lot to keep track of, but we’re looking to available resources for guidance: The Red List Project, the WELL Building Institute, The Green Science Policy Institute’s Six Classes Approach.
Human Health
The pressures of cost and convenience will never be absent from design, nor will our urge to sneak a nasty friend into the party. It’s important to know the true health consequences of the choices we make, while acknowledging the realities of human nature. Like all revolutions, this one will be waged by people with different levels of commitment. For it to succeed, every effort must be welcome.
Is a product still toxic at a reduced volume? Is it linked to cancer, birth defects, genetic mutation or reproductive harm? Will a product negatively affect indoor air quality? Is it toxic to workers who make and install it? Does its toxicity increase or decrease over time and with multiple exposures? Does the manufacturer pollute the environment where people live and work?
In what form, if any, is the product toxic: solid, liquid, gas, vapor, dust, fume, mist?
Material & Products Eco Playbook
Considerations
O+A’s eco team is developing a health checklist and lobbying our firm’s project managers to move it to the front of the process—even if only one job at a time. Our goal is to make it company policy across all projects so that these questions become as basic as adding up the dollars: Questions
“I think on the receiving end it might have seemed like coming out of left field. Like, ‘Why would you be asking for this?’ and ‘Why should I not do that?’ We weren’t all on the same page.”
-Jane Abernethy, Chief Sustainability Officer at Humanscale on the early days of pushing for sustainable materials at a design firm
MUTAGENICREPRODUCTIVECARCINOGENICTOXICITYTERATOGENIC INHALATION INGESTIONEYE SKIN CONTACT Eco Playbook 03 27
Questions What is a product’s carbon footprint? What raw materials does it use? Are any non-renewable resources used? Is it locally-sourced and manufactured to limit transportation?Doesamanufacturer extract and produce its product without damaging the environment?
In March of 2020, Verda welcomed to her Break Some Dishes podcast Jane Abernethy, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Humanscale. Jane’s early passion for product design hit a bump when she began to question the ethics of “making more things to be out in the world,” a bump that detoured her into advocacy for sustainable design, which, in turn, became her full-time job. If Humanscale is now a leader in environmentally responsible manufacturing, it is largely because of the snowball effect of Jane’s growing passion and the system she put in place for choosing materials. This is how design defeats global warming: with snowballs. Consumer Spending” Carbon impact, air and water pollution, deforestation, acidification, ozone layer depletion, natural resource depletion, desertification, habitat destruction… are we there yet? To O+A’s human health checklist we are adding: “
What is a product’s end of life—where does it go when it’s no longer used? Is it biodegradable? Can it be reused, repurposed or recycled?
Material & Products Eco Playbook
Environmental Health
ChemicalsCleaning
air
Landfill Landfill leaches into soil and water table, combustion emissions into the air and water.
Cleaning chemicals leach into water systems and their off-gases may release toxins into the atmosphere and water
Landfills can theresponsiblehydrogenconcern.dioxidemethane,ammonia,producedbuildings.andmoveandobjectionableproduceodorslandfillgascanthroughsoilcollectinnearbyOfthegasesinlandfills,sulfides,andcarbonareofmostAmmoniaandsulfideareformostofodorsatlandfills.
ACIDIFICATIONDESERTIFICATION POLLUTIONWATERPOLLUTIONAIR OZONE DEPLETIONLAYER HABITAT LOSS AND DESTRUCTION Debris Debris enters atmosphere, generating general pollution Eco Playbook 03 29
emissions into
Energy Emissions Energy emissions used to extract resources begin the cycle of
Landfill Landfill leaches into soil and water table, combustion the and waterharm
Material & Products Eco Playbook
Just sitting on a table it’s an inert object, a thing without moral dimensions. It’s a brick! In climate terms, however, it’s a physical representation of every action required to make it and every choice in that process: the type of clay used, where it comes from and how it’s obtained; the way the clay is fired and the efficiency of the factory; how far it had to travel to get to a building site and by what means it was placed in a wall. Was it placed or was it thrown away? Every step of this life cycle puts carbon into the atmosphere and if the wall is torn down in 50 years (or 5), that’s more carbon released. Embodied carbon is the hangover we all have from—100 years? 5,000 years?—of building. No wonder this planet is hot and tired. Here are some respected calculators for determining the carbon impact of a project: EC3 Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator: Link The Carbon Leadership Forum: Link
Of all the messes the industrial revolution has made, the most critical right now to the health of our planet is carbon. Reducing emissions from obvious sources like transportation and industry won’t shift the curve quickly enough. Nor will focusing on operational carbon—heating, cooling, lighting a building. Carbon emissions are also created when we make things. This is called embodied carbon and a large percentage comes from the built environment: urban spaces, buildings and interiors. The greatest impact on global warming our industry could have would be to build with materials that have a lower carbon footprint. Or no footprint at all. Consider a brick. (Welcome to the glamorous world of design.)
Carbon Impact
Extract01 MaterialsNatural Haul08 Away Waste Materi als toT02ransportFactory PrMake03oducts toT04ransportSite SpaceLifeMaterials06theConstruct05BuildingActiveinaBuilt ofDemolition07Materials Clean Transport Select companies that use transportationclean fleet GC Alignment Partner with GCs that are aligned with our material selection and life cycle goals. Sort waste on site to increase reusability and recycleability. Clean Materials Select materials that do not off-gas or release toxic chemicals once Selectinstalled.materials that can be cleaned using products that do not harm the earth. Analysis of Space Perform thorough analysis of interior space prior to demolition to identify material materials,(wood,repurposableSalvagefurniture).plumbingreuseavailableSalvageopportunities.reuseallmaterialsfordirect(lightfixtures,fixtures,allrecyclable/materialstiles,acousticcarpet).Clean Transport Select companies that use clean a transportation fleet. Redirect & Reuse Encourage GCs to redirect materials away from landfill to be reused or recycled. Minimize Raw Materials Reuse or recycle existing materials. Partner with resale recyclableSpecifycompanies.fullymaterials. Clean Local Transport Select companies that use clean transportation fleet. Select local products with local manufacturing facilities. Clean Energy Select companies that use clean energies to power their factories. Select natural materials with little to manufacturenoprocess. Eco Playbook 03 31
Questions Is a product’s supply chain free of labor exploitation?
Yes, But How? Will a manufacturer’s organizational ethics stand the light of day? It’s up to designers to investigate. A Certified B Corporation or a company with a Just Organization certificate is demonstrably one that has put some effort into these issues. But a socially responsible company is best identified through the transparency of its policies:
Does the manufacturer pay a living wage and observe fair labor practices? Does the company support employees’ health, wellness, and retirement? Does the company support its local community beyond typical business services? Does it have a diverse workforce and promote diversity, not just through hiring but through company policies and initiatives? How is the company using its corporate might for the greater good and going beyond self interest? Does the company engage in beneficial lobbying? Does the company pollute the environment where people live and work?
Social Health
We’re not likely to save the planet until we save humanity (i.e., ourselves) from the ignorance and indifference to suffering that have persisted in manufacturing since the start of the Industrial Revolution. (Actually before—see “Pyramids of Giza.”) It is time to use our designer’s eye to see what’s in front of us and correct the inequities to which all affluent societies have been willfully blind. The design profession prides itself on solving problems. We can earn that pride by using our purchase power to solve some big ones.
Material & Products Eco Playbook
EXTERNALACTION Internal ExternalActionAction InvolvementCommunityLocal SupplyTransparentChain CharitableGiving Benefits Retirement& Equal Pay Diversity NoLaborChild EmployeeHealth&Wellness Well-beingEmployeeMentalGenderEqualityINTERNALACTION Eco Playbook 03 33
Resource Analysis
Let’s talk through what at the surface seems an obvious choice in selecting a material with a better carbon footprint: wood. It sequesters carbon, which is ideal. But as trees grow, they capture carbon at different rates in their life span; optimal harvest timing is essential for greatest capture of carbon. Also, over demand could cause deforestation. Logging isn’t the cleanest industry–in Oregon, it is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Most wood needs to be kiln-dried before it can be used, requiring use of significant fossil fuels. Finally, selecting a species that needs to travel clear across the country counters many of the benefits of choosing wood in the first place. It’s clear that no decision other than not to build at all is perfect.
Material & Products Eco Playbook
Even Good Choices Are Only “Good”
There is much to consider when trying to select materials ethically, and with each consideration more emerge. Every choice sets off a cascade of effects down the line. We have to be okay with making our best choices. We can use only so many recycled or reclaimed materials on a project and the decisions a firm makes must be rooted in its own priorities and values. First and foremost, we need to stop using materials that are proven to cause harm when there are substitutes out there. We can also call on our manufacturers to make their products healthy for people and planet.
Moral of the story: Make the best decisions possible.
NO YES YES HIGH HIGH NOTBUTREALLY NO SOMEDoesLOWLOW the material contain any red chemicals?list andmanufacturersLobbygovernment agencies to find safe and substitutesfriendlyFindanalternate toxicityendsjourneyTOXICYourhereSomebutnootheralternative Use as little precautionspossible/takeastomakeitsafer Is there alternate?an What’s the amount embodiedofcarbon? What’s the amount of harm during extraction? Consider deforestation, toxic leach, air pollution, noise, water pollution Does rights,addressmanufacturerthesupplychain,circularity,endoflife?Doesthemanufactureraddressworkersandcontributetothelocalcommunity? Endeavor to make sure the product is actually recycled or returned as intended. Consider client and partner engagement Be vocal! Tell the manufacturer to step up or you will go elsewhere Consider the transportation impact. Can you buy carbon offsets or mitigate in some way? Is it recyclableIssourced?locallyitfullyand/orrapidlyrenewable?MOSTLYYESYES YES NO NONO NO Consider orproductenvironmentaltheimpactoftheandhowlonghowmanylivestheproductcouldhave.Isthereareturnprogram? AND Eco Playbook 03 35
Case Studies Material & Products Eco Playbook
Eco Playbook 03
Photography: archimania Fireclay increased their starting salary to $15/hour before San Francisco made it the local minimum wage. The company offers employees subsidized medical insurance, equity ownership, 401k matching, 0% interest loans and a generous maternity/paternity leave policy. It donates more than 10,000 square feet of tile every year. Fireclay makes its position in the community as important as its position in the market. They are, of course, related.
archimania, 663 South Cooper, Tennessee, Texas 663 South Cooper in Memphis, Tennessee, is an upcycle of two commercial buildings as a learning lab based on proof-of concept: one designed as a conventional baseline and the other to high performance standards. Not only did the project achieve dual zero energy and zero carbon certification by ILFI, but it is also a new urban model; a transformation of a corridor connecting old office campuses into walkable hubs for community and mixed-use activation. “The project’s aim is to reimagine Middle America’s aging commercial corridor building stock as a conduit for 21st-century community building. Resilient communities in this century must connect people, they must use design excellence to provide local, specific solutions and they must establish feasible approaches to combat climate change.”
Social Health: Fireclay Tile, San Francisco, California
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Case Studies Material & Products Eco Playbook
Environmental Health: Aectual, Amsterdam, Netherlands Eco
Playbook 03 39
Human Health: Humanscale, New York, New York
Humanscale is committed to being transparent about the materials they use. "We are working with our suppliers at all levels to identify and evaluate the ingredients in our products, packaging, manufacturing processes, and key partners in our supply chain.” Modeled after the ingredients list now standard in food packaging, Humanscale’s materials list informs clients of all that goes into a chair, desk or light fixture.
Aectual makes interior design fixtures—wall panels, flooring, furniture, stairs—by 3D printing a polyamide compound made from linseed. Because this material is recyclable and the 3D printing process adaptable to limitless applications, Aectual products may be deconstructed, reduced to their base compound and turned into something else—a possible solution to the problem of high turnover in commercial spaces.
Illustration: Label:Photography:HumanscaleGarethGardnerHumanscale/ILFI
Save Your Rain
It’s a lesson the design world can bring to its rehabilitation. Make it not a cause, but a way of life. Clean up your act. Ask the earth for help. Save your rain.
O+A Project Designer Lauren Harrison doesn’t recall talking about climate change with her family when she was growing up. “I don’t know that it was ever really discussed. It wasn’t an important topic in our household.” Nor can she remember any particular focus on environmental issues, at least as consciously promoted values. And yet somehow, without making a big deal of it, her family always seemed to do the right thing. “We always had a compost bin in the backyard,” she says. “That was a given. And we always had rain collection bins.” Lauren’s father is a mechanical engineer: “He’s pretty handy, my dad. He would take a flexible tube and connect it to the bottom of our gutter and then run it to a trash bin. He installed a spigot at the bottom of the bin that he could use to disperse the rainwater to his garden on dry days. At about the time Lauren entered high school her family put solar panels on their roof and rigged up their house with geothermal heating and cooling. While the word “geothermal” evokes images of geysers and bubbling hot springs, as an HVAC technology it’s mostly a process of digging holes. “Essentially you dig these really deep, really long bores into the earth,” Lauren explains. “Like 200-foot long bores down into the ground and then you run this pipe down and back up through them, circulating water. The temperature of the earth regulates the water temperature. The idea is that in the winter the earth is warmer than the air and in the summer it’s cooler than the air.” She admits it wasn’t 100% effective, especially during chilly Maryland winters, but if getting the house up to say, 55 degrees could be accomplished with geothermal, that left only 10 or 15 degrees to be carried by other sources of “Technically,power.Ithink we may be off the grid now,” she says. “I think the solar panels are making more power than my family uses because the geothermal requires a lot less than a normal heating and cooling system would.”
To break bad consumption habits, it helps not to have many.
This is an approach to sustainable living that feels achievable. They have made an alliance with the earth’s natural systems and raised their children to choose paper over plastic, take vacations on riverbanks, and bring produce home in natural fiber bags. All without ever actually talking about it.
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Waste Eco Playbook
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“The biggest issue we face is shifting human consciousness, not saving the planet. The planet does not need saving, we do.”
Procedures which install the full measurements ordered or find another use for scraps and discards will make accurate planning, budgeting and ordering even more important than they are now. Is a no-waste construction site even possible? Like all forms of perfection, it’s a goal.
Use Everything
-Xiuhtezcatl Martinez If materials selection seemed to O+A’s eco team the low-hanging fruit of design reform (it was higherhanging fruit than we thought), minimizing waste feels like the most impactful thing we can do at the project level. Making sure materials selected are used to their fullest capacity aligns with our firm’s long-held belief that no space in a floo rplan should go to waste, that every square foot has a purpose. Finding what that purpose is for every square foot of carpet, wood, tile and stone will be the challenge of 21st-century design.
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Starts with a deep-dive site analysis to identify opportunities for repurposing assets and mitigating waste. What can be reused from existing furniture or construction materials? What can local vintage shops or reuse warehouses contribute? The definition of “quality” is changing in the design world, and reuse and adaptability are becoming popular. Design for Reduction Focuses on optimizing materials by minimizing cuts, minimizing trash and simplifying material palettes. When new resources are deployed, it uses them with economy and forethought. Design for Redesign Extends the life of components in a space by using elements that can be disassembled and reused in future projects. This approach works both at the scale of a table’s joinery and at the scale of the room where the table is placed.
-J.D. Beltran. Director of CCA’s Center for Impact
Think Ahead
In an industry that places a high value on luxury, words like “minimal,” “economy,” and “frugal” may not resonate. But if we substitute “precision,” “value,” and “elegance” the concept gets a little sexier. Making every stage of the design process an exercise in artful economy is the kind of experimental project our designers get excited about. To be a designer is to be at heart an inventor. Each phase of design development now seems ripe for rethinking. Eco Playbook
While ‘making the right choices’ at an individual level is key to expanding the reach of climate awareness, O+A’s eco team realized early that challenging the landfill mountain could not be a design firm’s only strategy for minimizing waste. Through seminars and podcasts, articles read and articles written, we looked for ways to have an impact greater than the size of our firm. We understood that our clients, many with global influence, could amplify the impact of anything we might do and redoubled our efforts to steer those partnerships towards a circular and regenerative approach. Going forward, O+A’s waste management strategy falls into three buckets: Minimal Waste Design for Recovery
What Else Can We Do?
“At the Center for Impact we have this weekly ‘Trash Talk.’ We meet around lunchtime and our facilities staff literally teaches students proper recycling when they throw away their lunches. We give them a cookie if they make the right choices.”
Eco Playbook OCERVER CCERYLE SUERE REDESIGNREDUCERECOVERWASTEMAKETAKEUSE HOW DESIGN CONSUMES RESOURCES Green traces a typical path, blue the ways to disrupt it. 04 45
Design for Recovery On a recently completed O+A project, our design team oversaw the process of making custom tables from trees felled to clear the site. (See Case Studies.) That’s material recovery at its best. Not to mention site-specific furniture design. It’s also a demonstration of how adventurous thinking can make using what is already there—old doors, cabinetry, glass, wood, tile— a source of excitement and brand identity. Minimal Waste Reprogram Programming Test fits are usually about metrics and efficiencies and less about identifying assets in the space to be reused. Approaching programming from a perspective of what can be recovered from a site allows designers to hit their impact targets while designing a space that tells a deeper story. It’s a proactive process—we designers have to initiate it. Recovering Site Resources Analyze a client’s inventory and resources to determine reuse opportunities for: DemountableFuniture partitions Decorative lighting Analyze the existing project site for reusable: MEP systems and fixtures Carpet tile Doors and hardware CaseworkLighting Recovering “New” Resources Make use of regional bonepiles and architectural salvage resources Make use of local vintage shops Support local makers utilizing recycled materials Intergrating Site Resources Document possibilities and share findings Incorporate elements to be reused into test fits Eco Playbook
b. NEW CONfIGUR atION WItH REpURpOSED ElEMENtS a . E xIStING ItEMS IDENtIfIED fOR REUSE AReused lockers and furniture in team space Lockers Pendant Lights Conference Table Desks Glass Walls with Wood Doors BReused pendant lights and furniture in conference room CReused desking in open office Reused demountable/ walls and (2) doors from existing conferenceclosedroom Reused demountable/walland(2)doorsfromexistingphonerooms Eco Playbook 04 47
Palette Simplify the aesthetic Reduce the number of different materials on a project and use them economically. It’s quicker and easier to document, price, and build with fewer materials Find opportunities to use the same materials in different ways
A Tip From the Chef Designers who use materials to their fullest while doing everything possible to minimize waste get a jump on unique creative concepts by starting from a unique place—the natural qualities of what they’re using. The culinary practice of letting natural flavors come through with minimal intervention is a useful guide. There are many opportunities to minimize waste on a project: Eco Playbook
The old carpenter’s adage “measure twice, cut once” carries an asterisk: “and if possible don’t cut at all.” The amount of wood, stone, fabric, etc. that gets wasted to achieve a particular shape or fit is no longer tolerable. The new design economy values full use of materials and reducing costs and labor by working with raw sizes. What new aesthetic might we discover by reshaping our thinking instead of the wood?
Focus on reduction opportunities for high-quantity materials on a project—typically gyp, carpet, and acoustic ceiling tile
Minimal Waste Process Minimize as you’re designing Use materials to their full capacity. When cuts are necessary, make them count Create optimal seaming diagrams for materials that have set dimensions—flooring, countertops, wall materials
Design for Reduction
Work with the general contractor on a “source separation plan” especially for gypsum board waste that tends to contaminate other recyclable materials
Contractors purchase veneers at a 3:1 ratio (i.e., 3x the amount needed for 1 panel). Strategize design detailing to get closer to a 2:1 or 1:1 ratio
Design like chefs cook—use everything: rind, pulp, juice and Intentionallyseed reduce number of different metal stud sizes on a project Materials
Recessed linear fixture centered in room, ACT is offset 2x4 ceiling tiles Glass 2x2treatmentAcousticalwallswallcarpettiles 12’ - 6” wide 12’ - 0” wide Angular seaming and accent trim Steel and glass stick-built wall system Pendant linear fixture + ACT tile centered in room Smaller footprint ceiling tiles with dimensionsmaximizedofbordertilesontheedgeLinearplankcarpettilesinsteadof2x2gridforgreater flexibility and fewer large Acousticaloff-cutswalltreatmentwithmaximumuseofrawmaterial defined in seaming diagrams Demountable glass wall system and door with recyclable aluminum extrusions SpaCE a . WItH E xCESS WaStE fROM Off-CUtS SpaCE b. WItH MINIMal WaStE fROM Off-CUtS Eco Playbook 04 49 Accent trim with simple lines instead of Atcomplicatedmillwork,basedcabinetsdesignedon16”incrementsforbetteryield Exterior room dimensions framed on 48” increments instead of typical 16” to minimize excess framing and drywall waste
Practical strategies to create demountable workplaces are easy to identify: Select durable and long-lasting materials Design millwork and furniture for robust and continuous Plandisassemblyceilings and interior wall structures for maximum materials recovery through modular construction Use modular or free-standing lighting Use wall systems designed to be reused, like demountable partitions Develop a legacy booklet as part of the as-builts that notes the areas specific to that project that are prepped for future salvage and reuse opportunities to extend the life of the materials Eco Playbook
Minimal Waste
R aW MatERIal / flat paCkING paRtS aRCHItECtUR al IMplEMENtatION baSIS Of MODUlE
Years ago, O+A conducted a design experiment at a storefront in Charleston, South Carolina. For one month, seven separate tenants occupied the space for three days, five days or a week—each assembling their own workplace from the same blocks and tabletops. Back then the building blocks were made of cardboard and the experiment was more about tenant autonomy than waste mitigation, but one thing O+A discovered is how versatile simple forms can be in personalizing space for activities as diverse as taxidermy and toy manufacturing. In the context of the climate crisis, our eco team is looking anew at what might be achieved in building-block design with more durable materials.
Demountable Workplace. Will It Work? Our industry approaches projects as if the design will be fixed in place for decades, but that doesn’t match the reality of the rapid turnover of tenants in a commercial space. What if designers imagined interiors as temporary combinations of products, components, and materials? What if EVERYTHING could be taken apart and reassembled in a different way?
Design for Redesign
OPEN ROCKFIXEDOFFICESHEETHUDDLEFIXED SHEET ROCK HUDDLE FIXED SHEET ROCK HUDDLE FIXED SHEET ROCK HUDDLE FIXED SHEET ROCK HUDDLE a . typICal WORkplaCE WItH HaRD Wall CONStRUCtION SHEETSHEETFIXEDROCKHUDDLEFIXEDROCKHUDDLE PRIVATEACOUSTICALLYPHONEROOMS SEMI-PRIVATEHUDDLETEAM PIN UP SEMI-PRIVATEHUDDLE A B A C LOUNGE COLLAB TABLE DEMOUNTABLEMODULARROOMS COLLAB TABLE COLLABTABLE FOCUS SHELTER FOCUS SHELTER FOCUS SHELTERFOCUS SHELTER b. NEW WORkplaCE WItH MINIMal HaRDWallS, flE xIblE aND MODUlaR StR atEGIES, aND MUltIplE lE vElS Of pRIvaCy SHEETSHEETFIXEDROCKHUDDLEFIXEDROCKHUDDLE Eco Playbook 04 51
Case Studies Minimal Waste Eco Playbook
Design for Recovery: Studio O+A, Facebook, Palo Alto, California
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“In the last couple of years, we have taken steps to pinpoint the impact of the interior design industry on landfills in our home state of Indiana,” says Schott Design Vice President Pam Francis. “We worked with local trash haulers to understand how much Construction & Demolition waste they collect on a regular basis from remodeling projects in the Indianapolis area. It was shocking. One trash hauler alone (out of three major companies in Indianapolis) picks up roughly 600 bins of C&D waste from projects in the Indianapolis metro area every day—going straight to landfills. That equates to 2,400-4,800 tons per day from just one waste management provider.”
Design for Recovery: Schott Design, Indianapolis, Indiana
The first project completed under Palo Alto’s then groundbreaking 2008 Green Building Ordinance, Facebook’s new headquarters also consolidated all of its departments under one roof. The space had previously been a laboratory for Agilent Technologies, a division of Hewlett Packard that manufactured healthcare devices. O+A’s design repurposed some of Agilent’s millwork and furniture, used carpet with a high-recycled content and specified energy-efficient lighting. The design achieved a modern impact using materials revived from its building’s past.
Photography: Cesar Runio & Jasper Sanidad
Case Studies Minimal Waste Eco Playbook
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Design for Reduction: Studio O+A, adidas EVE, Portland, Oregon
Design for Reduction: RUX, Stickbulb, New York, New York
New York artist and designer Russell Greenberg needed a light fixture for a residential project his company RUX was working on and thought a pile of wood cut-offs might be a distinctive (and economical) choice of materials. Thus was Stickbulb born. Since 2012, Stickbulb has been manufacturing sculptural lighting with reclaimed wood, every plank of which has a story to tell.
For the adidas campus in Portland, Oregon, the O+A team used lumber from trees felled on the existing project site to create multiple tables for the interior fit out. Each table was labeled to indicate which were sourced from site lumber. While reusing lumber from the existing site was a great reuse opportunity, it also presented some process challenges. “The trees had to be milled into slabs and then kiln-dried prior to use,” says O+A Design Director Mindi Weichman.
Photography: Jeremy Bittermann
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Case Studies Minimal Waste Eco Playbook
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Easy customization is an important feature of Teknion and Bene’s Bene Box modular furniture system. With companies adjusting to new realities and office needs continuing to shrink AND expand; sturdy, adaptable, mobile business furniture will be a tool for waste-conscious designers. Giving clients a remake that maintains brand character and doesn’t require trashing an earlier configuration is sure to be a valued service in the next iteration of workplace design.
Design for Redesign: Teknion, Bene Box, Ontario, Canada
Photography: Ed Reeves and Waugh Thistleton
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WTA designed 6 Orsman Road in London for “zero waste construction,” and the entire building is indeed demountable. Its cross-laminated timber and steel skeleton is bolted together. Many of its most striking architectural features can be detached and put to other use. Not since the Globe Theatre (the original, not the remake) has a London structure been so easy to pull apart. But it’s the agility of its interior that makes this building an environmental model.
Photography: BENE
Design for Redesign: Waugh Thistleton Architects, 6 Orsman Road, London, UK
The Wisdom of Shop
When O+A Senior Designer Meredith Quinn was studying interior architecture at Kansas State University in the 1990s, one of the required courses was shop. “It was really intimidating for me,” she remembers, “because I didn’t learn any of that when I was in high school. I was a kid out in the country, small little high school, and we did not have access to that.” The KSU shop proved illuminating. “It was huge. It was like a big warehouse and it had all the materials, the metal shop and the wood shop. That class was a real eye-opener on the disconnect between designing something on paper and actually building it.” One of Meredith’s assignments was “to design something that you could easily disassemble and package and ship.” She decided to make a table. “I chose an ash wood, which is lightcolored and very hard—baseball bats are made out of it. I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ It was hard to run through the saw.” The legs she made of metal, “Cold rolled steel like an upside down U. There were two simple legs and they had a crossbeam, and the crossbeam came apart. So they folded into a box.” She drilled four holes and inserted metal pins that allowed the tabletop to be lifted off. Rubber stoppers softened the connection. “It was essentially three components plus these little rubber caps—rubber, wood and metal: again: three.” She laughs. The symmetry was not accidental. “At the time I was obsessed by Japanese design,” Meredith says. “Still am. Just the simplicity of it and the lightness and it being very elegant and Zen-like.” She was intrigued particularly by tatami mats, the woven-rush flooring that covers some rooms in traditional Japanese architecture. Meredith designed her table to the proportions of tatami—basically a 2:1 length to width ratio—recognizing in those measurements an attractive balance and order. “That’s when I really started understanding that proportions are important in design.” Here perhaps are the elements that could make design for disassembly meaningful in product manufacturing and even space design: the simplicity of tatami, the durability of a baseball bat and the pride of craftsmanship that drives the saws and lathes in a Kansas woodworking shop. Meredith kept her project for many years. “I made it back in about 1990, and I had that table up until I moved here to San Francisco.” She gave it to a friend who worked in an antique store. “She took it in,” Meredith says as if speaking of a cherished houseplant. “Hopefully it’s in a good home.”
Anyone who has read with a sinking feeling “self assembly required” knows this kind of design has been a part of furniture manufacturing for many decades. But if “design for disassembly” is to have a positive environmental impact it will have to advance beyond the pasteboard bookcases and busted futons we see left on street corners for pick-up by city trash collectors. It will have to value and prioritize quality.
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Sometimes the new idea is something we’ve always known.
DesignerCaseInclusiveWellnessEquityThinkCONTENTSInclusivelyMeansEveryoneHubConnectivityStudiesStories Social05 Equity Eco Playbook
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Every Bee Builds the “EmpathyHiveisnosubstitute for the experience -Isabelitself.”
Wilkerson Social equity in design is the conviction that when spaces are welcoming and functional for all people, everyone benefits. What does that have to do with climate change? Putting aside the disproportionate impact of global warming on historically oppressed communities—and the culture of affluence has been putting that aside for decades—O+A began to see the social ecosystem as a template for the ecosystem of the planet. How designers work with users to design spaces that accommodate the wide spectrum of their needs—physical, emotional, environmental, social, cultural—will surely guide them to a better understanding of how to address the multitude of challenges posed by climate change.
Equity Means Everyone
Integrate Social Equity Eco Playbook
Some people were nervous before a recent Making Space meeting at O+A, a virtual get together intended to keep the dialogue going around inclusion and social justice. No pressure, everyone welcome—and yet these exercises can be emotionally agitating. This is another way in which global warming and social inequity are linked. They are systemic problems, neglected for centuries and now threatening the foundations of the world we know. Both require intense self-examination. Neither has an easy solution. So, it was heartening to see O+A’s staff, one by one, step up and speak out, addressing forthrightly, if sometimes with shaky voices, personal feelings and experiences they had perhaps not known they would share. If it feels a little easier the next time, well, that is by design.
Live the Problem, Solve the Problem Before the pandemic, O+A observed best practices for accessibility and inclusion by introducing wellness spaces and gender inclusive restrooms. We felt this was enough to spearhead more expansive programs. Post-pandemic design will be different. By seeking design guidance from stakeholders who live the obstacles each day, we can expand the opportunities for inclusive design. Our industry is beginning to understand social equity as a way of using design to cultivate community and a deeper connection in workplaces and society at large. The tools necessary to make this possible are the ones we learned as children: listening, being vulnerable, caring for others and accepting that no solution will be perfect. First Thing to Do: Reach Out Use visioning and programming to understand the client’s social equity goals and identify specific areas for Evaluateattention.current and new space types to make them more inclusive. Invite input from internal and external advisors to consult on specific barriers and obstacles. Draw on their expertise throughout design development. Research barriers to familiarize the team with what it feels like to face them. Imagine what the ideal experience would be. Seek social inclusion lessons beyond the built environment.
Conduct post-occupancy evaluations to assess effectiveness of solutions. Weigh impact metrics to understand current standings and where to improve for future initiatives. Remember, small steps go a long way in building community.
Universal Design Inclusive Design Eco Playbook 05 Diversity Neuro-Diversity Accessibility EconomicHandednessEducationEthnicityGenderRaceSexAgeLocationCultureLanguageStatusLiteracySkillsetc... IntellectualTourettesDepressionDyslexiaADHDAnxietyASDOCDSyndromeSchizophreniaDisabilityNeurotypicalityetc... Deaf/Partially Blind/PartiallyAuditorySightedCaneUsersWheelchairUsersNonable-bodiedetc... Best solution to accommodate most people Multiple solutions for multiple people 63
Think Inclusively
Integrate Social Equity Eco Playbook
Shifting the Culture Since ADA organizations have contributed to expanding the definition of human-centered design, they have focused not on legal enforcement of minimal requirements, but on creating a culture that sees inclusion as a worthy goal in itself. We may struggle with the different criteria among these standards—and the similarity of their names! What’s the difference between accessible, universal, neurodiverse, wellness-focused—and what designer on a deadline has time to sort them out? But where the terminology may confuse, the purpose does not. Making spaces responsive to their users has been the thrust of workplace design for decades.
Elements of Inclusive Design The Empathy—imagineProcess: what each user experiences Respect—acknowledge differences without CulturalpreconceptionsUnderstanding—recognize the diversity of identities, values and Representation—ensureneedsmultiple perspectives shape the Balance—allocateThedesignSpace: space and resources equitably Encouragement—make the space welcoming Stimulation—make it lively and engaging Adaptability—build it to change Autonomy—build it to give every individual independence In one sense, we’ve all been designing for social equity for decades. The American Disabilities Act, passed by Congress in 1990, was every design firm’s starting point, but, ADA only addressed the physical barriers disabled people experience, and over the years, ADA compliance became the bare minimum designers could do. Our goal as an industry is not compliance with a law many disabled activists do not celebrate but a full embrace of the idea that every individual has a contribution to make and every space a role to play in bringing it forward.
Design for Everyone Eco Playbook 05 CelebratesInclusiveDesigndiversityandenables the potential in all human beings Focuses on achieving freedom from barriers that prohibit access to any group Questions the “one size fits all” approach Recognizes the value in different perspectives and works with people who can offer a range of views Identifies historic oppression and injustice and includes those who have experienced AcknowledgesAcknowledgescounterMakesEquitableitDesigninclusionanintentionaltotheexclusionoppressedgroupsoftenexperienceFocusesonoppressivesystemsCreatesfairandjustaccesstoopportunitiesandresourcesthediversityofvaluesandbehaviorsinamulti-culturalsocietytheroleofsustainabledesigninsupportingasustainablesociety;lowimpact,locallysourced,sociallyproduced EliminatesAccessibleDesignbarrierstopeople with disabilities Meets requirements codified in the ADA Standards for Accessible Design Provides baseline requirements and ample opportunities to exceed ADA Standards Focuses on ease of movement and access in the built environment for disabled lightsocialAccommodatesNeurodiverseindividualsDesignvariousmental,andemotionalsensitivitiesandcapacitiesGivesusersachoiceofspacestoaddressreal-timeneedsandstatesofmindEmployscolor,patterns,textures,andsoundtocreateanengagingandwelcomingspaceBalancesplay,creativity,andinteractionwithspacesforprivacyandsolitude UniversalDesign Achieves functionality for the widest range of users in the widest range of situations Seeks solutions that work for everyone without regard to physical differences Focuses on adaptable furniture, gender inclusive facilities, acoustic diversity, and simple user Focusescontext:Wellness-FocusedexperiencesDesignEncourageswellbeinginallitsphysical,mental,emotional,spiritualPromotesindividualandcollectivehealthonaccesstonature(refertoConnecttoNaturechapter)Focusesonhealthymaterials,cleanair,naturallightandactiveuseofaspacetoitsfullestextent. 65
Wellness Hub EasyFeaturesaccess from public spaces Open circulation for safety Amenities for bicyclists Access to outdoor seating Neurodiverse seating arrangements Space GenderTypesneutral restrooms Lactation / family rooms Wellness / meditation rooms Prayer rooms Public phone rooms Nap OpenMedicalroomsstallsandprivate grooming stations Wheelchair accessible booths Hydration stations Integrate Social Equity New typologies O+A developed during long months of lockdown reflected the new priorities returning staff were likely to have. We realized first impression spaces set the tone for how a company values inclusion. Because this hub design goes beyond typical wellness-oriented amenities to account for a wider variety of identities and needs, its placement in the floor plan sends an important message. Privacy considerations have traditionally put parent and caretaker rooms, prayer rooms, and medical stalls out of sight. Visibility of these programs celebrates differences and extends a company’s welcome to all. It reinforces positive attitudes by bringing them to the forefront of the space plan. Eco Playbook
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Inclusive Connectivity Features Promote inclusion both in person and in virtual settings Establish a framework for formal meetings and informal Levelsocializingtheplaying field to inclusively connect people to company culture and to colleagues—whether in person or remote Highlight visibility and equal representation Ensure people feel supported and connected Facilitate finding a mentor or mentee that individuals relate Promoteto representation through employee spotlight Encourage cross-team pollination to find compatibleIntegratecoworkersSocial Equity In a post-pandemic hybrid workplace with many remote workers, the erosion of company culture and equitable experiences will continue to be a top concern. How does a company cultivate a culture of inclusion with some of its employees working from home and others in the office collaborating face-to-face? Making sure remote workers feel connected to the mainstream activity of the company and in-office workers feel equal agency and independence may require a reassessment of a company’s goals and core values. Striking the right balance will be the measure of a hybrid workplace’s effectiveness. By setting an example of inclusivity for employees, visitors and clients, this expanded definition of wellness can be the model for a happier experience at work. Eco Playbook
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Case Studies Integrate Social Equity Eco Playbook
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Inclusive Design: Stalled!, Inclusive Restroom Prototype
The original impetus was to guarantee transgender individuals access to restrooms not segregated by gender identities. As it evolved the design became more universal: a safe, comfortable, easily accessible restroom for all users. Full floor-to-ceiling stalls provide complete privacy in the restroom area. Medical stalls, multi-height sinks and designated activity zones connect through open circulation, demonstrating that spatial efficiency and social equity need not conflict.
Photography: Kirstine Mengle (exterior photos) and Jens Markus Linde (interior photo)
Accessible Design: AART architects, Musholm Extension for the Danish Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, Denmark Musholm is a holiday and sports center in Denmark for disabled people. The center encourages play across a range of abilities through the use of architectural accommodations. For example A 110-meter-long activity ramp wraps the building. A climbing wall and the world’s first cable lift for wheelchair users provides disabled visitors access to athletic and work out options not often available. “This amazing space clearly demonstrates that buildings can easily be beautiful and disability-friendly at the same time” - Mette Bock, former Danish Minister for Culture.
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Photography: MIXdesign
Case Studies Integrate Social Equity Eco Playbook
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Universal Design: Dirk Biotto, ChopChop Prototype Neuro-Diverse Design: HKS Inc, The Sensory Well-Being Hub 73
The everyday task of making meals can be a struggle for the elderly and disabled. Most kitchens aren’t designed to make lifting heavy items easier or performing tasks with one hand even possible. This prototype features a sloped sink to pull items out instead of lifting them, a height-adjustable work surface, a milled groove and embedded grater and clamp for one-handed prep, and an extendable hose that brings potable water wherever it’s needed.
The Sensory Hub is a design application that helps Neuro-Diverse students achieve balance between tasks. In times of agitation this space allows individuals to reorient and recover in their own way. Elements included are tactile and textured panels, musical instruments, interactive light features, sensory cocoons, weighted blankets and rocking chairs. The wide variety of options within the space gives users a choice of self-soothing tools, recognizing that they are best equipped to understand what they need in moments of stress. Photography: Tom Harris
I Know Where You’re From—IComingThink
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The reception desk was at a proper height, but “they had put stuff on it and I couldn’t see the receptionist’s face.” Rodly realized if he were permanently in the chair there would be colleagues at his office he would never be able to approach—their desks weren’t accessible. Empathy, education, experience—it’s a logical progression that can take design a long way toward equity. But Rodly’s experiment convinced him that to complete the journey two final steps are required: engagement and employment. For a firm to develop true expertise in inclusive design its process must also be inclusive. A nuanced appreciation for the challenges a project presents can come only from consultants who know both design and those challenges personally. A designer who lives in a wheelchair every day will bring insights to accessibility a designer who lives otherwise can’t hope to match—even with eight hours of practice. How did Rodly feel after one workday in a wheelchair user’s world? “I was exhausted,” he says.
Rodly thought he had the exercise in hand. A friend in a wheelchair had once invited him to “give it a shot,” and Rodly had sat in his friend’s chair and moved around with relative ease. But on the designated day, (having chosen the eight-hour option) he learned the limits of looking from the outside in. Curiously, the design firm’s office was not wheelchair accessible. While an elevator served two floors, the third was reachable only by steep stairs. Its kitchen was too small for easy maneuverability; its desk arrangement made circulation awkward. Frustrating as these big planning blunders were, it was the small indignities he hadn’t anticipated that brought home the reality of wheelchair living. “None of the counters were at accessible height,” Rodly says. “In the mornings they laid out a breakfast spread for everyone and when I pulled up on the wheelchair there was a lot of stuff I either couldn’t see or couldn’t reach.” The hallway door was a problem. “The pull was too heavy. It was an effort to pull it open and once it was open and I rolled myself through, the door came slamming back on me—way too fast.”
Eco PlaybookDesigner Stories: Rodly Jean 05 Can empathy get us to enlightened design?
Before he went to work at O+A, Rodly Jean worked for a design firm that prepped its staff for accessibility design by requiring them to spend a day in a wheelchair. “Everyone in the office had to do it,” he says. “You could either do it for four hours over two days or you could do it on one day for eight hours. At the end of the day you had to give a review of what you learned. What things were you not initially aware of and would you be more mindful of in the future?”
CONTENTS Biophilic Design Benefits Biophilic Desgin Principles Nature Engaged Nature Evoked Case Studies 06 ConnecttoNature Eco Playbook
Symbioses
-Quannah Chasinghorse, from a poem written at age 17 There was a period in O+A’s early development when our photographers moved plants out of the picture. Indoor plants were seldom part of a featured design. They were usually brought in by the client or the staff, and the photo team considered them clutter. Gradually wellness took hold as a design priority, and certain types of “clutter” acquired a new cache. Plants returned to the frame. As O+A’s eco team prepared this playbook, we debated whether a chapter on biophilic design was needed, was even relevant. Again, what did it have to do with climate change? A recent study published in The Journal of Environmental Psychology suggested an answer. It found that in addition to its obvious impact on personal wellbeing, connecting to nature “encourages individuals to act in ways which protect the health of the planet.” In other words, it’s a form of recruitment, a reminder of the planet we’re working to save.
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“I am from the fireweed trails. From the birch trees I used to climb, whose limbs I remember as if they were my own.”
Biophilic Design Benefits
Connect to
Stephen Kaplan has called the restorative impact of nature on the mind an “involuntary fascination.” It’s why every time we look out the window the natural elements of what we see come to us as a gift. Understanding the practical benefits of that gift helps workplace designers make the case for incorporating biophilic features into their projects. The benefits fall into three categories:
* Link Business A growing body of research attests to the benefits of biophilic design on mental health, quality of sleep, attentiveness, cortisol levels (that’s your stress hormone), dopamine levels (that’s your mood chemical). Those are the ingredients for a happy employee. Biophilic design improves productivity, creativity, cognitive performance, engagement, and morale. It improves employee retention and absenteeism and has been shown to reduce accidents in the office.
Playbook
Human If you are reading this playbook next to a tree your blood pressure is likely going down. That’s true if the tree is potted by your desk or if it’s outside and you’re seeing it through a window. It may even be true if it’s a picture of a tree. A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health* put 100 subjects in virtual reality rooms three of which included biophilic elements and one which offered only walls, books and furniture. All participants in the biophilic rooms experienced measurable reductions in stress.
“Our results suggest that physically and psychologically reconnecting with nature can be beneficial for human health and wellbeing, and at the same time encourages individuals to act in ways which protect the health of the planet.”
PsychologistNature
Environmental The business impacts of biophilic design are a direct result of its impact on a workplace’s environment. Numerous studies show that high levels of carbon dioxide and Volatile Organic Chemicals make employees tired and less focused. Plants are nature’s air purifiers. Their presence in an office improves indoor air quality. Let natural light in and open-air access and the office becomes a healthier place to be.
-Leanne Martin, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom Eco
Human MentalBusinessImpactsImpactsPhysical Improved Dopamine Level Lowered Blood Pressure Reduced Fatigue Lower Heart Rate Improved Quality of Sleep Improved Cortisol Levels Better Respiratory Health Improved ReducedImprovedProductivityCreativityAbsenteeismBetterEnagagementBetterMoraleIncreasedFocus Feeling of Tranquility Positive Attitude Overall ImprovedReducedReducedReducedHappinessBoredomAnxietyStressEngagement Eco Playbook 06 79
Connect to Nature Eco Playbook
Designers have two ways of introducing nature into a project: directly—let’s call it Nature Engaged; or indirectly—let’s call it Nature Evoked. Nature Engaged brings physical, and ephemeral design features into a space whether actual plants, water features, natural light, geological installations, access to gardens or open sky—we await a time when butterflies and ladybugs will be welcome. Nature Evoked utilizes natural patterns, textures, sequences, and features to mimic those qualities in a built environment. For example ceiling features that suggest a tree canopy or carpet patterns modeled after grasses or stones in a creek bed. Nature Evoked also includes architectural forms and strategic space planning that draw upon how the natural world makes us feel. For example an intimate, cavelike setting or an open expanse that suggests a vast prairie. At O+A, we’re no strangers to biophilic design. We’ve done our share of living walls—briefly at McDonald’s HQ in Chicago, we briefly tried one that was edible! Natural light and sharing the window line has been a cause célèbre here for decades. And at Slack’s HQ in San Francisco, we based a design concept on wilderness trails. We thought we had this subject covered, but when you delve more deeply into the literature of biophilia, it turns out some of the most intriguing (and freakiest) examples are subliminal.
Two Paths Back to Nature
Biophilic Design Principles
Nature orintothatArchitecturalEvokedfeaturestranslatenatureart,symbolicformsspatialexperiences Biophilic Design Nature ArchitecturalEngagedfeaturesthatprovideadirectinteractionwithnaturalelements PLANTSWATER THE SUBLIMELANDAIR LIGHT ANIMALS Eco Playbook 06 81
Views to nature, inside or outside, living systems, and natural processes. Examples: Windows, terraced butterfly gardens or beehives, exterior bird feeders, the presence of water, projections of cloud movement, art depicting nature. From Woodpeckers to Babbling Brooks Sensory stimuli that cause a deliberate and positive association with nature. Examples: Fragrant flowers, bird sounds, other nature sounds, textured materials, natural scents, access to pets.
From Hint of Frost to Summer Breeze
From Butterflies to Purple Mountains
Varying intensities of light and shadow that change over time and create conditions that occur in nature. Examples: Circadian rhythm lights, structures that create opportunities for shadow effects, strategic orientation to direct daylight
Nature Engaged
To some designers, bringing plants into a space feels like cheating: a too-easy way to achieve the biophilic effect. Designers often want to manipulate space, not simply populate it, and a bank of living plants may not give us enough to do. A good designer sinks their teeth into a metaphor for nature. Real plants in real dirt? That’s for gardeners. Or is it? The range of biophilic options for actually engaging with nature in a design is extensive, and a revolution that seeks to bring the industry more in line with ecological imperatives opens the door to some pretty wild possibilities. Literally wild.
Connect to Nature Eco Playbook
Subtle changes in air temperature, humidity, and airflow that mimic natural environments. Examples: User controlled thermal zones, window shades, operable exterior walls, cross ventilation. From Dusk to Dappled Light
Simulated nature sounds: bird calls, water colorsunlightDynamicwindbabblingfeatures,brook,ordiffusedlighting.NaturalorinteriorlightingtomimicthetemperatureofnaturaldaylightingNaturalmaterials(wood,stone,cork,linen,hemp,wool)Planterswithherbs, flowers, or plants for visual and songbirds,stimulationventilation.OperablestimulationolfactoryAplaceforpetswindowtoprovidenaturalItalsoprovidesauditorywithrustlingleaves,etcWaterfountainfeature Visible exterior planting Operable partition with screening element that casts natural patterns within space Eco Playbook 06 Operable shade element for thermal and airflow control and variability 83
Examples: Phone rooms, pods, shelters, booths.
From Dark Forest to Bermuda Triangle
References to contoured, patterned, textured, numerical arrangements that persist in nature.
Balances and contrasts between simplicity and complexity, similar to those encountered in nature. Examples: Expansive architectural forms and intricate details, grand and intimate spaces, detailed elements like wallpaper, carpet, or auditory stimuli.
Examples: Architectural forms, finishes and materials, and proportions derived from nature.
From Jagged Terrain to Moss on Trees
This is where we on the eco team scratched our heads. We get that a space designed to echo the impact of a rain forest’s canopy is a biophilic architectural metaphor and may, in fact, be felt as a natural experience. But how far does “architectural metaphor” stretch? Some on our team balked at classifying every possible corollary to a natural effect as “biophilic.” Is a phone room biophilic because it’s as confining as a fox’s lair? Is a staircase biophilic because the landing looks over a lobby the way a cliff looks over a river valley? If our definition is that broad, what isn’t considered biophilic design? We include the examples below as thought (or argument) starters.
Connect to Nature Eco Playbook
From Cliff Edge to Cave
Examples: Locally sourced wood and stone, local environment-inspired palette selections (desert, forest, ocean).
Examples: Window locations that tease into the space beyond, mirrors that reflect multiple views, moody lighting that draws you in, trompe l’oeil illusion-based art. An identifiable threat coupled with a reliable safeguard— metaphorically. Examples: Catwalks and bridges connecting spaces, atriums, balconies, cantilevers, glass floors, intermediate stair landings.
From Rocky Shores to Sandy Dunes
Nature Evoked
Unimpeded views over a distance, drawing attention to something beyond where a person currently is. Experiencing an open clearing after weaving through enclosed spaces. Examples: Open office, terraces/patios, town halls, amphitheater or stadium seating, connecting stairs. A place to withdraw (from environmental conditions or activity) in which the individual is protected.
The promise of more information achieved through partially obscured views or other sensory devices to entice the individual to explore.
Materials and elements that reflect local ecology or geology creating a distinct sense of place.
From Fibonacci Sequence to Golden Circle
Architecturalformsderived from geological features Graphic visuals to evoke the gradient of a sunrise or sunset Billowing fabric or drapery to evoke natural airflow Carpet tile pattern with symbolic natural prints Lighting features that evoke the night sky or filtered light through tree canopies Materials with abstract nature patterns and textures Architectural features that emphasize an experiential, physical quality that nature provides, like vertical elements and vast openness Intimate enclosures to evoke natural sheltering Eco Playbook 06 85
Case Studies Connect to Nature Eco Playbook
certainly;
Signify’s LED design for the Czech energy company Innogy in Prague replicates the circadian rhythms of its employees—up to a point. Bright light in the morning mimics natural daylight and gradually decreases as the day progresses. After lunchtime, however, the system stages a circadian intervention with an hour of “morning light” to give drowsy staff an energy boost. “We know that exposure to a certain comfortable bright light setting for one-hour can provide a mild energy stimulus similar to a cup of coffee,” Philips Country Manager for the Czech Replublic Jiří Tourek, told the Signify website.
Studio O+A, Slack, San Francisco, California
Photography: Garrett Rowland
Signify, Innogy, Prague, Czech Republic 87
Eco Playbook 06
Slack has its share of living walls and indoor greenery, as well as a garden high above the city streets, but what makes this workplace unique is its conceptual biophilia. O+A worked with Slack’s design team to translate 9 distinct wilderness environments into abstract evocations on each floor. Inspired by the Pacific Crest Trail that stretches from Baja to the Canadian Northwest, the design not only draws its palette and textures from natural landscapes; it distils those landscapes into modern, technology-rich workplaces. While stress reduction is the typical goal of biophilic design, Slack’s purpose was more nuanced: to reduce stress, but also, to build the culture of camaraderie and collaboration that hikers and campers know.
Case Studies Connect to Nature Eco Playbook
Eco Playbook 06 89
The coworking company Second Home goes biophilic in a big way at its Hollywood facility. Taking advantage of Southern California’s alfresco-friendly environment Spanish architects SelgasCano moved 60% of the office space outdoors into a dense garden with over 10,000 plants and trees in addition to an ongoing population of butterflies, bees, ants and squirrels. For those disinclined to share workspace with fauna, the indoor offices have transparent walls allowing panoramic views of the curated wild. According to SelgasCano, “It is one of the few private developments in history in which the footprint of the builtenvironment has been returned to natural-environment.”
Studio Octopi created a boardroom entrance for the London advertising agency 18 Feet and Rising that makes that meeting place the visual and mental reward for passage through a tunnel. To the extent the design suggests a burrowing animal’s emergence into the light of day, the metaphor feels apt for a space where clients will sit for presentations. But was it designed with biophilic intent? Studio Octopi cofounder Chris Romer-Lee’s description to Dezeen is inconclusive: “Surprise, anticipation, unease, fear and relief were all discussed in connection to the client’s journey...The tunnel acts as a cleansing device. All preconceptions of the agency are wiped before entering the boardroom.”
SelgasCano, Second Home, Hollywood, California Studio Octopi, 18 Feet and Rising, London, UK
Photography: Petr Krejci
The EffectCathedral
In an increasingly urban world biophilic design speaks to an affinity for nature that lies dormant in even the most committed city dweller. If we are to persuade people to make the changes necessary to reverse global warming, that affinity will have to be cultivated. Forest bathing in the middle of a city is one way. The word Alex uses for her response to Sagrada Familia is wonderment. “I remember going in and smiling,” she says. “I smiled the entire time I was there.”
“I almost feel like I forest bathed in Sagrada Familia,” says Alex Pokas. “Just not in a forest.” She laughs. Alex is the Project Designer at O+A perhaps most attuned to biophilia and specifically to the Nature Evoked side of the concept. That’s the side that replicates the restorative effects of a natural environment through purely architectural means. For Alex, the best example is Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. “It’s the strongest emotional response I’ve ever had to being in a building,” she says. “It’s exactly like being in a redwood forest.” Alex visited the church in 2013 on a holiday trip to Spain while she was studying in Italy. She remembers the impact of seeing it rise up from its urban surroundings. “There’s a nice big plaza out front, so you go through this downtown area and then you enter a park and suddenly it’s Sagrada Familia in your face. You’re just so thrown by how bizarre it is. It feels otherworldly.” While the exterior of the building (constructed largely of recycled stone) suggested to Alex “the inside of a cave,” the most powerful biophilic experience was the church’s interior.
The Japanese call it “shirin-yoku.”
In English it’s “forest bathing”—and no, it’s not that dip you take in the river on a camping trip. Forest bathing is a form of outdoor meditation where you turn off all your devices and step into a natural setting with no other purpose than to absorb what your senses take in. Not a hike, not a run, not a picture-taking excursion—this is a way of communing with nature as one who belongs there. The Japanese Ministry of Health promoted the practice in the 1980s to counter the stress of a tech-heavy society, but indigenous people have been “forest bathing” for as long as humans have been on the earth.
Eco PlaybookDesigner Stories: Alex Pokas 06 91
“When you go in you’re immediately met by these giant columns that go up and branch out to support the structure above. I know that Gaudi did base that off of a branching tree and that all of them taper out in ways that mathematically and proportionately support a root structure. And then the stained-glass windows go around the whole building, so you have these huge ceiling heights and this colored light that filters in. It really does feel like you’re in a forest seeing the different colors of light filtering through the leaves. You go in and your head is up the rest of the time.”
ProcesstheReimagine07Design
Eco Playbook
So what are we going to do about it? One of the hard truths the COVID-19 pandemic dumped in our laps was how indifferent global crises are to good intentions, lip service, hearts-in-the-right-place, etc. If we’re not prepared to disrupt our lives and do things differently, the crises that threaten us will persist and get worse. As O+A’s eco team was preparing this playbook we understood it to be our guide for remaking our design process. O+A has long believed the way we do design—a combination of client research, storytelling and cross-discipline translation—is what distinguishes our work from that of other firms. Adapting that process to the new climate realities will disrupt some of our usual work habits, but we are confident it needn’t alter—and may in fact enhance—what makes the process unique.
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How It’s Made Shapes
What It is “The future will be green or not at all.” -Jonathon Porritt
SELECTIONPROJECT ENGAGEMENTCLIENT PROGRAMMINGPRE-DESIGN SCHEMATICDESIGNANALYSISSITE CHECKPOINTASSESMENT SELECTIONMATERIAL ECO PROJECT SELECTION » Seek clients with active programs and commitments to: » Energy reduction » Reduced waste and pollution » Increased recycling » Social equity & inclusion » Long term sustainability ECO CLIENT ENGAGEMENT » Measure client commitment » Put environmental, social, and health agreements in writing » Share ROI data on retention linked to forward-thinking policies » Encourage client to engage partners early on ECO SCHEMATIC DESIGN Include in planning considerations: » Health, wellness, and well-being » Access to daylight and ventilation » Biophilia » Reuse strategy » Equitable spaces and experiences » Modularity and adaptability » Future recovery opportunities ECO PRE-DESIGN » Establish an eco-strategy consensus with the full project team at the outset » Coordinate contracts so that all partners and specialty consultants are ready to start on day one » Incorporate additional steps in project schedule and budget ECO SITE ANALYSIS Research and investigate: » Local demographics and economic conditions » Natural resources nearby » Community organizations » Renewable energy opportunities » Existing site’s reuse opportunities ECO EstablishPROGRAMMINGclientgoalsfor: » Efforts beyond CalGREEN, LEED, LBC, WELL » Indoor air quality, biophilia and lighting » Upgraded building systems » Regional sourcing and reuse » Inclusion and wellness » Future flexibility » Specialty consultant selection » Material and product selection parameters ECO MATERIAL SELECTION » Establish project material selection parameters » Create palettes according to established material evaluation criteria » Integrate reused materials into palettes » Engage manufacturers with proven track records in human, environmental, and social health Greening the Process Reimagine the Design Process While creative firms devise their own ways of working, the fundamental steps of design from programming through construction are standard across the industry. Restructuring these fundamentals to introduce new steps can make climate considerations equally standard in scheduling, workflow and general planning. Eco Playbook
» Develop spaces for a diversity of personalities, abilities, and individual traits
» Monitor job site to ensure the contractor is doing everything possible to minimize waste. Propose multiple dumpsters and recycling practices
» Engage
CHECKPOINTASSESMENT CHECKPOINTASSESMENT Eco Playbook 07 95
» Create General Information sheets for the contractor urging adoption of demolition processes that will minimize additons to landfill
» Pledge to implement environmentally-conscious evaluation parameters for all projects by 2025
DEVELOPMENTDESIGN DOCUMENTATIONCONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATIONCONSTRUCTION CLOSEOUTPROJECT OCCUPANCYPOSTEVALUATION
» Recommend the selection of an environmentally conscious contractor ECO POST-OCCUPANCY EVALUATION
» Create an internal scorecard for every project
» Develop detailing and drawing standards that minimize waste and exceed accessibility and universal design standards
ECO DOCUMENTATION
» Have an open dialogue with the client and partners to assess final implementation of sustainability goals. Discuss lessons learned and future improvement opportunities.
ECO PROJECT CLOSEOUT
» Foster a shared vision with the general contractor on environmental goals
» Conduct a post occupancy evaluation to gather data and feedback from users
» Review assessment with client and project team to determine next steps
» Identify areas in the Project Specifications literature where revisions can be made to achieve the greatest environmental impact.
ECO DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
» Make decisions collaboratively with stakeholders and partners
» Create a legacy document to identify elements in the project planned for future reuse and provide a project summary of inclusive solutions.
» Offer our services to partner with the next designer to make sure some of these reuse initiatives are realized ECO ADMINISTRATION
» During standard QAQC reviews and red-lining, also plan for a sustainability QAQC review to determine if all opportunities have been considered
» Make sure material swaps due to lead time, availability, or cost still align with project goals
» Review shop drawings with sub contractors to ensure maximum utilization of materials and alignment with project goals
» Iterate a spectrum of solutions to be environmentally proactive, equitable, sustainable, connected to nature and altert to reuse
ECO QA/QC
inclusion,advisorsinternal/externaltoassesssustainability,healthandwellness
» Support diversity and challenge design approaches that do not reinforce multiple points of view.
Advisor Team Schematic Design feedback on outline and help develop long-term goals Summarize opportunities and specific obstacles to improve upon Review studies and collaborate with core team on solutionsdeveloping final feedback on analysis and options for direction Outline ecological goals for the project Revise outline & goals based on feed back from advisors Research and study solutions that reduce or elim inate obstacles Integrate and doc ument solutionsproposed Establish a foundation for how approved solutions will be implemented for minimum 2-3 reviews of solutions content with advisor team beforecontentdeveloping
Keeping Workflow on Track Messing up the climate was a team effort—that team being all of “civilization” for at least the last two centuries. Cleaning up the mess will require a team as well and will have to happen in a lot less time. At the individual company level that means assembling advisor groups. Engaging experts on issues of diversity and inclusion or sustainable materials or green certification or waste mitigation is a firm’s best assurance that eco-conscious designs achieve their purpose. A diverse team of experts embedded in the project development process keeps work moving by maintaining a dialogue between core and advisor teams from kickoff to completion.
Reimagine the Design Process Eco Playbook
Provide
CorePhaseProjectTeam Programming
Account
Provide
Review and provide final approval Review direction and provide feedback for 50% development Provide feedback at 50% page turn review Provide feedback at 90% page turn review Review and provide final approval
Eco Playbook 07 97
Review the intended content and provide feedback on implementationthe plan
Design Development Final Documentation
Iterate a spectrum of design proposals that are ecologically proactive. Analyze and determine the direction to present to advisor team at 50% development
Develop final proposals and prepare for presenta tion to advisors Provide the general framework for final implementation with as much information as possible. Conduct a 50% page turn review with advisors Incorporate feed back and developmentcontinue Incorporate feedback and continue development. Prep for final presentation that implementationincludes details
Teams to decide if additional intermittent reviews with advisors at 75% and 90% design development is helpful to the workflow
The StoryInside
It’s an ability that has made her an ideal wrangler for O+A’s climate change innovations.
What Lauren Perich sees is process. “If I see a beautiful publication of a project I think, oh I wish I could talk to that team. What were the takeaways and the lessons learned, the things that went differently? Those are the stories I’m always digging for.” As a Senior Designer at O+A, Lauren gets to do a lot of digging. Making sure the process works is her job.
In modern design, that’s not just a question of phases and steps. Lauren’s focus on how we use resources, what resources we use, where we get them, what we do with them when we’re finished has given her a kind of designer’s x-ray vision. She looks at a space and sees the whole ecosystem of its creation. She’s like a musician who hears the math inside a symphony.
Eco PlaybookDesigner Stories: Lauren Perich 07 99
On A Toolkit for the Times , Lauren worked with a large team to reimagine the postpandemic workplace. Now with Eco Playbook she is again addressing how what we do can be made better by how we do it. “I’ve been doing my own journey and trying to be a sponge,” she says, “trying to absorb as many process highlights as possible.” To a non-designer that may sound like a form of nerd-out, but in practice it can lead, has led, to poetry: “There’s a documentary by Dick Olson and Lila Horowitz called The Glass Cabin,” Lauren says. “It’s just a little cabin in West Virginia, but they made it entirely out of repurposed windows. They did it themselves. They’re artists and makers, and they didn’t want to settle on just one window to capture the view. They wanted an entire wall of windows— all collected from architectural salvage, vintage shops and whatnot. Some of them are operable. Some of them are not. They all have their own stories and each one frames the landscape and view in a different way. A beautiful little project.”
“We get that question all the time from clients,” she says. “What is our process? When designers are moving from firm to firm, that’s what they ask. What is your process? I really hope design publications can get on board with that. The pretty pictures are amazing. They allow us to reflect back on all the hard work, but I think the heart of our industry is how we get there.”
In design magazines, what you see is space idealized.
Beautiful to look at in the West Virginia woods and beautiful to contemplate as an eco-friendly process. Will climate-aware repurposing be the aesthetic of the next generation? “I am optimistic,” Lauren says. “A lot of organizations have dragged their feet maybe because they underestimated the impact they could have. From a size perspective O+A is a fairly small company, but we’re a small company attached to big projects and big clients. If we can have an impact and I know we can, these larger companies can definitely have an impact. So optimistic? Yeah. People just have to move faster, plan it out—make a process for it.”
No Time to Spare Eco Playbook
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These questions have no answers because they are a journey, not a series of goals. They are not items checked off a to-do list, but ways of life to be examined, improved upon and then improved further. If ever the iterative nature of design was clear, it’s here in these strategies for environmental and social justice.
A Closing Thought Actually, NOT a closing thought. One of the common characteristics of the issues addressed in Eco Playbook is that none of them have an identifiable end. When will we be able to declare the climate crisis over? What level of inclusion and social equity will allow us to think, “problem solved”? When will design ever reach its full potential for bettering the human condition?
O+A thinks of Eco Playbook as a beginning—in architectural terms it’s a vestibule. We see it as our door to a whole new era of space making, a passage from past practice to a remodeled future we want to help design. Once you’ve been part of a revolution, you remain a free thinker all your life. With this everevolving playbook, we hope to have an impact by activating free thinkers across our industry.
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“An Intern Story.” Youtube, Target, Mar. 2019, Link
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Many at our firm contributed to this effort, this is a partial list.... Elizabeth Vereker Meredith Quinn
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