For over 33 years, VMDO Architects has remained committed to the efficiency of our buildings and the health and well-being of their occupants. As these issues have been embraced by the building industry and the public at large, we have renewed our commitment to conservation and broadened our approach to sustainability.
Energy Conservation
 Energy consumption is at the root of many environmental issues, including climate change, habitat destruction, waste generation, and pollution. Through our participation in over 1000 projects, VMDO Architects has actively pursued design solutions that conserve energy beyond the industry standard.
To this end, we continue to pay careful attention to the design of the building envelope, fenestration, and HVAC systems and controls. In fact, VMDO Architects is a regional leader in the specification of Ground Source Heat Pumps, a heating and cooling strategy that has recently enjoyed renewed attention.
In addition to our continuous investigation and pursuit of best practices in energy conservation, we have embraced additional efforts in energy conservation that will help us to evaluate and learn from the initiatives of each project. We have added energy modeling to our typical design process, which helps us evaluate the energy performance of each building during the design phase. Through the energy modeling utilized in the design of Poquoson Elementary School, VMDO Architects anticipates a 40% reduction in the expected energy expenditure of the building. We are also expanding our Measurement and Verification capacities to better evaluate and respond to the actual energy performance of our buildings. These reflective efforts will help us to meet our commitment to the 2030 Challenge, which calls for an immediate 50% reduction in fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
Water Management
 Similar to energy consumption, the use, quality, and flow of water has extensive environmental impacts, affecting the health of waterways, as well as the availability and quality of drinking water. VMDO Architects has consistently advocated the use of water conservation initiatives in its buildings including water efficient fixtures and equipment, rainwater harvesting, and landscape designed for minimized irrigation. Furthermore, our firm has a celebrated record of responsible stewardship to the watersheds of its buildings through initiatives such as vegetated roofs, bio-filtration systems, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, and low impact development.
Through effective stormwater management, the projects of VMDO Architects treat regional stormwater as an asset, not as a waste. New development at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise collects and treats stormwater in a new campus lake, creating a generous ecological habitat and a distinctive recreational feature for the campus. Similarly, our work with the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena addresses stormwater as an asset for beautifying the campus, and for uniting the site with its surrounding ecological systems. The overall strategy treats runoff through a bio-filtration system, below-grade drainage filters, and ultimately a series of weirs to move water safely, slowly, and cleanly to its ultimate output, Meadow Creek below the base of the building. The overall strategy was recently awarded the 2007 Engineering Excellence “Honor” Award by the American Council of Engineering Companies as the outstanding storm water management project in the nation.
Occupant Health and Well-Being
 VMDO Architects has long treated the quality of its indoor spaces as environments to inspire and nurture the life within. Abundant daylight, fresh air, and careful moisture control have been standards to VMDO Architects designs. We understand the impact of these qualities on the health and productivity of building occupants. In fact, teachers at Daniel Morgan Middle School cite improvements in their physical health as reasons they are most pleased with the recent renovation and addition.
Durability
At VMDO Architects, we design buildings to last. Designed to a minimum 150 year standard, the durability of our buildings is their greatest contribution to their sustainability. By designing for their continued adaptation in lieu of their demolition and replacement, we are effectively conserving countless material resources, energy expense and landfill space.
Current LEED Projects
Recent interest in sustainability and the development of the USGBC’s LEED program has inspired VMDO Architects to align its sustainable efforts with the LEED evaluation system. Although the firm has an internal commitment to design all new projects to a LEED Silver standard, we have also engaged many of our new clients to pursue LEED certification. We are currently pursuing LEED Gold with Poquoson Elementary School, Manassas Park Elementary School & Pre-K, the Operations Center for the Charlottesville Transit Service, the new student center at The Richard Stockton College, and the first LEED Gold project in the University of Virginia system, the renovation of the Science Building at the College at Wise, which may exceed its original expectations and achieve a platinum rating. |
