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How to implement small sustainable changes at your office that can make a big difference Blair Begnaud, Assoc. AIA, LEED GA, is a designer and the sustainability point person at Modus Studio in Fayetteville, Arkansas. While getting her master’s degree at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Begnaud participated in ecological master planning projects that won internationally in the Vertech Greener Cities Competition, and another team project won nationally in the EPA Rainworks Master Planning Competition. She is passionate about creating a greener natural and built environment for future generations.
KL: Tell us what got you interested in the field of sustainability. What makes you passionate about it? BB: I first started to understand sustainability went much deeper than solar panels and rain gardens around my third year of architecture school. I went into my fourth year taking electives that focused on sustainability and shifted my studio projects around the idea of designing a green and healthy environment. That same year, I managed to get a design patent for a portable mothers’ room while in my sustainability elective course. My interest in this topic landed me a position as the research assistant in the Office of Sustainability at the University of Lafayette while I was working on getting my master’s. My passion for sustainability grew tenfold under the direction of Gretchen Vanicor, the director of sustainability, who was an incredible mentor who built the Office of Sustainability at the university from the ground up. That position got me fired up to enter the architecture world to try and shift the way we design and build. KL: When you first joined Modus Studio, they already were pursuing and creating sustainable projects. In what ways have you made this more accessible and furthered their sustainability track?
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BB: When I joined Modus Studio, I was given the freedom to develop some things to push Modus Studio in a greener direction, which eventually evolved into the start of the Sustainability Tracker. The Sustainability Tracker is the office’s reference guide to: ● Office sustainability goals ● Green/LEED-approved materials ● Red-listed materials ● Solar balancing calculator ● Simplified green energy codes that list requirements for the various states in which we have projects ● Local contacts to sustainability resources and consultants ● Green design checklist ● Post-occupancy evaluation program The whole point of the Sustainability Tracker is to make things simplified and make resources more accessible for employees to understand. Additionally, in our weekly office meetings, we have time blocked off for sustainability topics where I can inform the office on sustainability news and updates and get more information from others in the office about materials, systems, products, or other various sustainability updates they have discovered that week.
