One of Burns & McDonnell’s recent projects was the Hawaii Air National Guard Squad operations and training campus at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The LEED Platinum project was designed for zero-net energy use. Burns & McDonnell developed an energy-conservation investment program for the integration of photovoltaic arrays. The building also is resilient enough to withstand hurricane forces.
“Just being green is not enough,” says Stephanie Graham, Burns & McDonnell’s Sustainability Manager. Her firm has seen increasing demand for supplier transparency, where clients qualify and rate service providers based on their third-party certifications.
At a minimum, she says, providers are expected to benchmark their carbon emissions, track goals, and publish results. She adds that a growing number of her firm’s projects now aim for zero-net water use and zero-net waste in construction.
The majority of Page’s design teams now use parametric energy modeling tools to take advantage of opportunities to design passive energy solutions prior to engineers taking over to create active solutions, says Robert Phinney, Page’s Associate Principal and Sustainable Design Director.
Â
ALSO SEE: BD+C Giants 300 green rankings
Top 130 green architecture firms
Top 45 green engineering firms
Top 85 green construction firms
Â
Phinney says achieving zero-net energy in buildings is now a “mainstream” pursuit for many developers and their AEC partners. “New technologies, renewed knowledge of passive systems, and affordable renewables are evaporating the boundaries that have traditionally kept a large part of the industry from pursuing green building,” he says.
Burns & McDonnell is designing buildings to recapture and filter stormwater to replenish aquifers and alleviate burdens on sewer systems. Its construction group offers material reuse services to place excess or “like new” construction products into buildings.
Burns & McDonnell is also incorporating wellness components, such as biophilia and optimized views of the outdoors, into projects. One such case: its renovation of the three-story, 47,500-sf Independence Utilities Center near Kansas City, which opened last November and earned a LEED Platinum rating.
Â
SEE ALL 2017 GIANTS 300 RANKINGS
Related Stories
| Aug 4, 2016
Top 50 Multifamily Engineering Firms
Jacobs, AECOM, and Arup top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest multifamily building sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 4, 2016
Top 80 Multifamily Construction Firms
Lendlease, Suffolk Construction Co., and Clark Group top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest multifamily building sector construction and construction management firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 4, 2016
Top 110 Multifamily Architecture Firms
Perkins Eastman, CallisonRTKL, and Solomon Cordwell Buenz top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest multifamily building sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 3, 2016
GREEN BUILDING GIANTS: Sustainability leaders turn to wellness and technology to get an edge
AEC leaders in green building are stepping up to a higher level of innovation and to be a green leader today, you have to dig deeper into data.
| Aug 3, 2016
Top 60 Green Building Engineering Firms
Jacobs, AECOM, and Arup top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest green building sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 3, 2016
Top 90 Green Building Construction Firms
Turner Construction Co., Clark Group, and Hensel Phelps top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest green building sector construction and construction management firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 2, 2016
Top 130 Green Building Architecture Firms
Gensler, Stantec, and HOK top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest green building sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 1, 2016
K-12 SCHOOL GIANTS: In a new era of K-12 education, flexibility is crucial to design
Space flexibility is critical to classroom design. Spaces have to be adaptable, even allowing for drastic changes such as a doubling of classroom size.
| Aug 1, 2016
Top 100 K-12 School Architecture Firms
DLR Group, Stantec, and Huckabee top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest K-12 school sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 26, 2016
ENGINEERING GIANTS: Firms continue to push innovation
Trends include 3D printing, modular hospitals, and fluid dampers.
