Innovative Sustainable Design Features
At VMDO, our founding principals—both LEED Accredited Professionals—have clearly established a vision for deep sustainability in our business practices and our design work. Our entire staff is committed to this vision, and in fact, it is precisely this vision which helps us attract talented and sustainably-minded professionals to our practice. Over the last eight years, VMDO has established a leadership position in the green building sector. Our expertise in delivering high-performance, sustainable buildings is evidenced by our:
- LEED Platinum certification for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise Science Center Renovation.
- Certification of the first three LEED Gold public elementary schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Award for Manassas Park Elementary School—widely considered the highest national honor for sustainable design.
Successful design and construction is an outstanding achievement by any standard, but deeper green aspirations necessitate demonstrated expertise, creative vision, solid communication, and coordinated planning. VMDO’s approach to every project is fundamentally grounded in sustainability, rather than checklists. We’re experts in the LEED-certification process, to be sure, but we’re also pushing forward with many other non-LEED sustainability issues such as avoidance of BPA and PVC in building products, especially as it relates to human health and low-energy design. Read more about our sustainable design initiatives and how we’re incorporating them into our designs:
- Daylighting
Minimizing the use of artificial lighting is a key component of any low-energy design approach. Proper building orientation and narrow building masses... | Find out more >> - Efficient Building Envelope
If you talk about sustainable building practices today, people automatically conjure images of iconic green technologies such as rain barrels or solar... | Find out more >> - Efficient Water Usage
In many parts of the United States, water is, or is rapidly becoming, an extremely precious resource. Indeed, even in areas which once had plentiful supplies... | Find out more >> - Geo-exchange Systems
Ground source or geo-exchange heating and cooling systems are generally well-suited to the mid-Atlantic’s mixed climate. VMDO, with our consulting partners,... | Find out more >> - Green Roofs
Green (or vegetated) roofs are a great way to address multiple sustainability goals. Green roofs reduce stormwater run-off, reduce rooftop solar heat gain,... | Find out more >> - Heat Recovery
At VMDO, our commitment to energy conservation means that we’re constantly looking for innovative ways to reduce building energy loads. In the early... | Find out more >> - Local Materials
The United States Green Building Council has transformed the building materials markets by incentivizing the use of materials manufactured within 500 miles... | Find out more >> - Native Landscaping
The designed landscape represents a significant part of many building campaigns. Unfortunately, however, many landscapes today consist of water-thirsty,... | Find out more >> - Plug Load Reduction
As architects and engineers develop reliable strategies for optimizing building envelopes and deploying efficient mechanical systems, miscellaneous electric... | Find out more >> - PVC Reduction
As a firm focused on sustainable design and passionate about social equity, we care deeply about the well-being of building occupants and about... | Find out more >> - Stormwater Strategies
In an era of ever-expanding development, few are surprised by the abundant signs of stress on our waterways. Rains sweep fertilizer and petroleum products... | Find out more >>
