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Green Design Practice Joins RMI |
"Having worked closely with Greg and ENSAR Group for three decades, we think they're the best in the world at helping design professionals create high-performance buildings with superior economics and aesthetics..." —Amory B. Lovins, RMI CEO  On 1 August, Rocky Mountain Institute and ENSAR Group of Boulder, Colo. joined forces in RMI's newly named RMI/ENSAR Built Environment team.
"The work that RMI does and the work that ENSAR Group does have been complementary for more than twenty years," said RMI Executive Director Marty Pickett. "Indeed, RMI and ENSAR Group have worked on many green building projects together. Hiring ENSAR Group to become part of our green development team was a logical step in the evolution of the Institute." ENSAR Group, led by Greg E. Franta, FAIA, has for 27 years been a leading consultancy in high-performance buildings, and is one of only five U.S. firms certifying LEED™ buildings (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) under the auspices of the U.S. Green Building Council. Its name is short for "Environmentally Sustainable Architecture." RMI/ENSAR Built Environment will create, develop, and implement integrated solutions for the building industry that will restore and regenerate natural systems while enhancing life-sustaining built environments. The team will offer businesses, public agencies, communities, and individuals strategies and methods for creating more wealth and employment, protecting and enhancing natural and human capital, and increasing profit and competitive advantage. According to Greg, the purpose of joining forces is to provide a more comprehensive approach to green development, from notions developed at the "think-and-do-tank" level through on-the-ground implementation, resulting in a larger impact on the building industry than either RMI or ENSAR could achieve on its own. The current services of both organizations will remain intact with a new market development opportunity for more comprehensive services and a broader range of clients, he noted. RMI/ENSAR Built Environment will be based in Snowmass and Boulder, Colo., under Greg's leadership. "I am truly looking forward to being more effective in creating sustainable developments around the world," Greg said. "Our joint effort will allow us to provide more comprehensive services in environmental quality and energy efficiency, not only for the building industry, but for communities, businesses, NGOs, and governments." As ENSAR Group's principal architect, Greg has tremendous experience in the green building sector and has pioneered environmentally sustainable architecture around the world since the early 1970s. As an international consultant to other design professionals and developers, Greg has led ENSAR Group in providing services on more than 800 energy-efficient and environmentally sound projects, including offices, laboratories, educational buildings, health facilities, libraries, homes, and other buildings—many, including RMI's 1984 headquarters, considered among the most energy-efficient in the country. He has also assisted in the creation of sustainable communities, from EcoVillage in Virginia to Gaia Village in Brazil. Additionally, Greg has shown extensive leadership in the green building community. He has served on the National Board of Directors for the American Institute of Architects and cofounded the AIA's Committee on the Environment (he also founded the Committee's predecessor, the Energy & Environmental Quality Committee). He is the chairman of the Sustainable Building Industries Council and very active in the U.S. Green Building Council. He helped to develop the LEED Green Building Rating System, is part of the LEED certification team, and is a national LEED faculty member. From 1977 to 1982, Greg led the Commercial Buildings Group at the Solar Energy Research Institute (now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), where he developed new design resources and tools for energy-conscious architects. ENSAR Group was founded by Robert Clarke in 1977 under the name Solar Pathways. Greg joined Mr. Clarke in 1982 and they changed the name to ENSAR Group. At the time, part of ENSAR Group was focused on the research, development, and commercialization of building products for energy efficiency. Alpen, Inc., a high-performance glass company in Boulder, was created under the auspices of ENSAR Group and Mr. Clarke branched out with Alpen. Today he remains Alpen's president and an ENSAR Group board member. Other key ENSAR Group staff members who are joining RMI/ENSAR Built Environment include Victor Olgyay, AIA, Cara Taverna Carmichael, and Ashley Muse. Victor also has a long history in environmental architecture, and is renowned for his skills in climate-responsive design, daylighting, and energy efficiency. He is the coauthor of Architectural Lighting, has done extensive research on related topics, and teaches climate-responsive architectural design. Victor is also very active in the U.S. Green Building Council and is a member of the national LEED faculty. Cara has considerable experience with sustainable design, energy analysis, charrette development, computer modeling, and natural daylighting techniques. She has consulted on a range of projects including daylighting and energy studies for schools, retail and national park facilities, and has developed sustainable design guidelines internationally. Cara has also managed project data for an in-depth laboratory case study evaluated by the Green Building Tool, an international green building rating system, and she is a LEED 2.0–accredited professional. Ashley is an environmental designer and consultant with experience in LEED standards, sustainable design, daylighting, and materials selection. Before joining ENSAR Group, Ashley worked at several Colorado architectural firms participating in design, master planning, and historic preservation. She has also worked as an assistant teacher for green building classes at the University of Colorado at Denver's Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, where she helped to develop the school's green materials resource guide. Ashley is a LEED 2.0–accredited professional, and is founder and co-chair of the USGBC Colorado Chapter's Emerging Green Builders' Committee. She is also part of the LEED project certification review team for the USGBC. Greg, Victor, Cara, and Ashley join RMI Principal Alexis Karolides, AIA, in the new consultancy. Alexis, an architect and LEED 2.0–accredited professional, has been a senior consultant and researcher with RMI for seven years, leading the Institute's former Green Development Services team's health care and university projects, working with corporate clients, and providing educational seminars and presentations nationally and internationally. Alexis will also lead the new group's research in biomimicry—innovation inspired by nature (a field synthesized by RMI Trustee Janine Benyus) and in biophilia—the hypothesis, now drawing strong experimental support, that people are healthier, happier, and more productive when in buildings that embrace nature and remind us of the natural habitats in which our species evolved. Bill Browning, Hon. AIA, who founded RMI's Green Development Services in 1991, will remain a Senior Fellow active in RMI projects while developing his new firm, Browning + Bannon, LLC, with former RMI researcher Jeff Bannon, in Washington DC. Combining RMI's green development consultancy with ENSAR Group is expected to strengthen the integration among RMI's three practice areas. All of RMI's thought leadership depends on a continuous flow of innovation and vision across boundaries. "Having worked closely with Greg and ENSAR Group for three decades, we think they're the best in the world at helping design professionals create high-performance buildings with superior economics and aesthetics," said RMI CEO Amory Lovins. "Their practice is complementary to RMI's, emphasizing detailed end-to-end design support that turns early-stage conceptual designs (the traditional focus of RMI's buildings work) into finished projects with measured results. Combining forces is a longstanding dream come true for all of us. It will greatly strengthen the Institute and help us advance the state of the art more rapidly." To contact RMI/ENSAR Built Environment, call 970-927-3851 or e-mail kwright@rmi.org. |
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