Building on the 25-year foundation of the ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction program, the EPA is gearing up to launch a new certification program for efficient single-family and multifamily homes: ENERGY STAR NextGen™ Certified Homes and Apartments. Based on initial energy and emissions modeling, ENERGY STAR NextGen certified homes will achieve an average of 47% greater carbon savings than homes built according to 2021 residential energy code.

In this episode, Robb chats with two members of EPA’s ENERGY STAR Residential Branch, Asa Foss and Elliot Seibert, about what home builders, raters, and buyers can expect from ENERGY STAR NextGen and its electric-forward—not all-electric—focus. They discuss each of the program’s requirements and the rationale and goals behind them.

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As architects, building designers, and members of project teams, we are in a unique position to advance equity and inclusion in our world. It is our responsibility to design buildings that support and give opportunities to historically underserved groups.

As we embark on a new year, concepts of equity and inclusion are prominent throughout the field of architecture. The U.S. Green Building Council recently affirmed that equity will remain a key focus at this year’s Greenbuild International Conference, and the WELL Equity Rating continues to gain traction across our industry.

At SWA, we prioritize equity and inclusion in both our company values and strategic vision as well as in our Inclusive Design discipline. We made an announcement not long ago that our Accessibility team is shifting away from Universal Design towards Inclusive Design to more effectively drive equity in the built environment. In our work with Inclusive Design strategies, we have examined how they must evolve to prioritize all building occupants and the surrounding community at each stage in the design process.

Today we are thrilled to have a clearer vision for how we aim to accomplish this goal. (more…)

Project teams may set out to design and construct a building that supports the needs of its occupants and the community as a whole. However, the design process does not typically involve examining the lived experiences of future occupants or the surrounding community.

This missing piece is called co-design, and it’s a crucial practice for creating healthy, safe, and equitable buildings.

Co-design is gaining traction as more project teams prioritize social equity and inclusion as part of their project goals. When community members and future occupants that represent diverse perspectives and lived experiences are part of the design process, the finished building is more likely to support the needs of building occupants.

Read on to learn how project teams are successfully implementing co-design to advance equity through building design. (more…)

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The average homeowner is aware that energy efficiency is important in the fight against climate change. The people who are most passionate about energy conservation are making upgrades to their homes and setting a good example for their neighbors. But how can we get more homeowners excited about doing the work (and navigating the cost) to improve their home’s performance?

On this episode, Robb chats with Adam Stenftenagel and Christine Liaukus (a SWA alum!), two experts on improving existing buildings, about what it’ll take to reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of single-family homes on a much larger scale than we are today. They discuss data, strategies, technologies, and of course, financing that can help get millions of homeowners on the path to net zero energy.

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As of November 7, 2022, the 2022 edition of the New York City Building Code is now in effect. As designers begin to work with the updated code, our accessibility consultants have been getting a lot of questions about what has changed from the requirements in the 2014 edition of the code.

While it is important to read through the new code in its entirety to ensure compliance with all updated criteria, we have compiled a list of some changes related to accessibility that designers should be aware of, below.

SECTION BC 1106: Parking and Passenger Loading Facilities

8 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

While the 2014 edition of the code was silent on specific requirements for electric vehicle parking, the 2022 edition provides scoping and technical criteria for charging stations and the parking spaces serving those stations. Where EV charging is provided for common use, at least 5%, but no less than one of each type of EV station must be accessible. (more…)

Each state in the U.S. can adopt its own residential building code. States tend to use a specific edition of the IECC as their residential code (with the exception of California). And while 2022 is nearly over, only a few states have adopted the 2021 IECC.

However, several more states are likely to use the 2021 IECC given that under the Inflation Reduction Act, an additional $1 billion has been allocated to support jurisdictions in adopting the 2021 IECC or its zero-energy appendices.

Due to its lack of country-wide adoption, most building professionals might not be familiar with the 2021 IECC as it compares to the current codes in the states where they work. For example, there are significant increases in the minimum insulation requirements, changes to the air leakage test thresholds, and a new section, R408, with requirements to achieve “additional efficiency” through the selection of “packages.”

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There is a lot of work ahead of us to advance equity in the built environment. As more project teams aim to impact equity, there are overarching questions that need to be answered: What design strategies will advance equity in the built environment? And how do we make equity part of building performance?

In this episode, Alex chats with Victoria Lanteigne, Principal of Research at Steven Winter Associates (SWA), about her expertise in equity, health, and inclusive design. Victoria shares how, through her research, she hopes to build on the way we measure building performance—from outcomes focused on energy and resource efficiency to those that include aspects of human experiences, such as the health, wellbeing, and sense of belonging of all building occupants.

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What is a sustainable building? We know it must be an energy-efficient, high-performance building and emit as little carbon as possible to protect the environment. But a sustainable building must also be a healthy building that protects people and communities.

A building can’t be considered sustainable if it doesn’t sustain the physical and mental health of all its intended occupants and sustain the community around it.

Healthy buildings require a holistic approach that accounts for how every building material, system, and technology affects the wellbeing of occupants.

This is an important topic at SWA, so we asked our interns to explore it! They talked to our experienced building systems, sustainability, and Passive House consultants and put together this blog post as a resource on designing and maintaining a healthy built environment.

Keep reading to learn more about the following considerations for healthy buildings:

1. Occupant comfort and productivity
2. Optimal indoor air quality (IAQ)
3. Ventilation system upgrades in existing buildings
4. Healthy building certifications (Fitwel, WELL, etc.)
5. Building operations and maintenance staff training

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed more than 30 years ago, but architects and designers still struggle with misconceptions about complying with the accessible design and construction requirements included in the ADA.

Our accessibility team works on a wide variety of projects across the country to ensure that buildings are designed to comply with the ADA (and other regulatory and building code requirements). Each project comes with its own unique set of challenges, and it is common for even our most experienced accessibility consultants to encounter a design problem we have never seen before.

However, there are design issues that we see again and again and again; these common accessibility oversights are not difficult to avoid if they’re accounted for early enough in the design process.

In this post, we explain how to avoid the top 10 accessible design mistakes that our consultants find in…hotels.

This blog post was originally published on August 08, 2019. It was updated on October 20, 2022 to ensure that the guidance and design requirements provided are up to date. (more…)

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As a continuation of our last episode, Construction Diaries: Lessons Learned From SWA’s Inspection & Verification Experts, Dylan gears his questions toward young professionals – specifically, those just starting out in the field or those aspiring to work in the field as a construction inspector or verifier.

Throughout the episode, the group provides some words of wisdom, including how to handle intimidation and animosity in the field, how to maximize time spent traveling from site to site, and more. Lastly, each guest ends the episode by sharing a piece of advice that they wish they had when they started their careers.

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