Schemmer Blog

Gary Norton, P.E.

A sustainable site means various things to different people; however, in a nutshell the goal of sustainable site design is to reduce the negative environmental impacts over the life of the development.  Although there are several environmental considerations associated with a site’s development, one of the most significant environmental impacts is the increase in quantity and decrease in quality of stormwater run-off.  It used to be that storm sewer handling was one of the last elements to be designed on a project and most projects focused on making the land fit the project, rather than fitting the project to the land.

A person needs only to take a stroll along our many streams and other water ways to observe the damage and pollutants that continue to degrade our streams, which in large part are due to past site development attitudes of “pipe it and forget it”.  Although there is still a long way to go to correct the “sins” of the past, there has been a fundamental shift in attitudes over the past several years that put a much greater emphasis on sustainable site design.  At Schemmer, we have been a leader in designing projects that are harmonious with the surrounding environment while still meeting the functionality demands of our clients.  Read the rest of this entry »

Pat Birch, AIA, LEED AP BD+ C

If a client were to ask me, “What is the most innovative design strategy that could make my affordable housing project more sustainable?” What would be my answer? Deciding on ONE thing is like trying to pick my favorite food—can’t do it. But site design is where a sustainable approach begins, so I would start there. Sustainable neighborhoods are built upon connectivity, density, diversity, and an “eyes on the street” approach to architectural design.

I live in a 1908 house in an old neighborhood of Lincoln. It’s a traditional gridded street pattern with alleys. It’s dense, it has a mixture of large historic homes, modest single family and multifamily homes. There’s a lot of shade, there are plenty-big backyards, shallow front yards and because the garage is detached from the house, when I come home after work I see my neighbor when he’s tending his lawn (which is always unless it’s covered in snow). Because of the density, cars park on both sides of the street. This means traffic can’t zoom through the neighborhood because two cars can’t pass unless one pulls over at a break in the parking (like at driveways). The parked cars are a buffer between kids playing in the yard and the traffic. And the large front porches enliven the streetscape with activity—the emphasis as you look down the street is the front porch, not the garage door.

Awhile back, I heard a speaker from the National Institute of Health report on a study regarding the safety of neighborhoods. If you’re riding your bike in suburbia, you are actually more likely to be hit by a car than if you’re riding your bike in an old neighborhood like mine. Why? Because suburban developments are designed so you can drive your car fast (because you don’t live close to anything you have to drive everywhere which leads to more traffic and the need to have wider roads for cars driving at fast speeds). Cul-de-sacs lead to feeder roads, those lead to 4-lane arterials. You don’t see many bicyclers on those roads, or pedestrians. People driving cars don’t expect to encounter bicyclers. Thus, those hardy souls riding their bikes in these harsh landscapes are more likely to be hit by a car. Wow. Read the rest of this entry »

John Rickert, AIA, LEED AP

You might ask yourself, how you are going to measure the success of your energy efficient building.  Whether it is a new design project or a small renovation project, the performance can almost assuredly be based on the economic choices that were made during the design or selection process.  If the desire is to strictly save on utility costs, you might find your design decision to be immediate with the purchase of a new piece of equipment that is more efficient than the current unit.  If your choice resulted in the elimination of a piece of equipment that had not yet reached the end of its useful life, but needed a little tender loving care to continue operating, did the decision result in an economic waste?  Could the decision have been better served to fund some maintenance and defer the new equipment for a time when technology might event improve the performance of the piece of equipment?

Choices made based on the Life-Cycle assessments seem to lead to better results in the performance of the building and I think lead to a more environmentally friendly result.  How is the environment being impacted when a new piece of equipment is created?   All of the energy required to design, fabricate, transport and install a new component in the building may adversely affect the performance outcome.  Make decisions to be Green wisely.