PHILOSOPHY OF SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability for our studio is a way of life. Since our early beginnings, we have made a very conscious effort to develop each project with a greater understanding of its surrounding resources. We strive to create buildings and environments that are “green” at a level that reaches below the surface.

Sustainable projects begin with buildings engaging the landscape, both physically and spiritually. Each of us in the office takes Sustainability personally.

Alex Bergtraun is an Eagle Scout who spent his youth camping and learning to “leave the campsite cleaner than he found it”. Presently, as a Cubmaster and an Assistant Scoutmaster simultaneously, Alex teaches, in his off-hours, kids 6-18 yrs. of age to be proud shepherds of their environment – and this philosophy permeates our whole Studio with each project we create.

We are very proud to be the first Architects to have built projects with geo-thermal cooling/heating in both Palo Alto and Berkeley! Every building is looked at comprehensively from orientation and siting, to natural and efficient ventilation and heating, to sustainable and green materials usage while overall minimizing waste.

A listing of the green components in our Studio’s building projects should in no way, though, reduce the overall ‘gestalt’ of each building’s formal relationship to their respective sites.

We believe that every building, new and remodeled, must be designed with the sustainability of our Planet preserving it for future generations foremost in mind.