(1888PressRelease)
January 23, 2008 - Santa Barbara, CA - Doug Singletary, AIA, Managing Director of B3 Architects in Santa Barbara has a new designation to add to his name. Mr. Singletary passed the rigorous Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED) test, and is now a LEED Accredited Professional, or LEED AP.
The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
At first, Mr. Singletary was reluctant to embrace any sustainable accreditation program due to the sheer number of choices. “There are so many organizations within the AEC industry with self prescribed sustainable rating systems, as to confuse and dilute the process. What eventually drew me to the USGBC’s LEED accreditation program was it’s national presence and rigorous standards. Although we already incorporate many sustainable principles in our designs, this accreditation helps to measure and legitimize what we are already doing, as well as encourage us to do more.”
Mr. Singletary is a strong advocate of sustainable design at B3 Architects, and heads a sustainability education and research division at the firm. Through his leadership, the architecture and planning firm is introducing sustainable principles to clients who traditionally shy away from sustainability due to the perception that ‘green’ means less green in their wallets.
“I think it is important to demystify sustainable design for your clients. It’s not all about shredded blue jeans as insulation material. There are many basic principles, such as proper site orientation and glazing that make a significant impact on long term energy efficiency of a building without negatively impacting up front costs,” Mr. Singletary said.
“It’s also about choosing the best materials and products for each project, and assessing up front versus long term cost benefits. Some benefits, such as the physical health and mental well being of those who inhabit the building appear to add costs, but in fact result in greater creativity and productivity, and therefore pay for themselves. Low VOC finishing materials combined with increased air circulation can make a significant improvement on the health of your environment.”
Now the question is whether or not Mr. Singletary should update his business cards to incorporate the LEED AP designation. Are those six letters worth the trees his cards would be printed on?
“With over 40,000 LEED Accredited professionals and growing, that becomes a significant number of trees channeled into business cards!”
Although this was meant as a humorous question, Mr. Singletary, AIA, LEED AP, obviously takes his environmental commitments seriously.
If you would like to contact Mr. Singletary, he can be reached at dds ( @ ) b3architects dot com For more information about the USGBC, www.usgbc.org.
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