is very important. Especially in community-based projects, no one feels good after hearing that awful thump of a bird crashing into a window. Skyline Design is one manufacturer of bird-safe patterns on glass, but they also have published an excellent article on it that you can scan the QR code to read. https://skydesign.com/news/bird-safeglass-for-architecture/ 4. Design for Water Managing water usage and runoff should be a discussion topic with your client. Specifying low-flow fixtures is required by most codes. Thinking about site draining is another water discussion. On one of our projects, we are working with the local watershed authority to receive grants for replacing asphalt paving with permeable paving. This will allow for more filtration of runoff. 5. Design for Economy There are several questions to ask here. Can we reuse a building and renovate it instead of building new? Can we specify local materials and support local industries? Is the building we are designing right-sized for the program? How long will this building be in use? Asking these questions and others can help us to bring value to our buildings. None of these questions are difficult to discuss with a client at the start of a project. 6. Design for Energy This principle can easily become a deep dive into energy modeling and EUI (Energy Use Index) calculations. But we can also consider energy by thinking about passive energy strategies, asking what the available power sources are or designing an all-electric building that can take advantage of future electric power sources. 7. Design for Well-Being One way to design a healthy building is to eliminate harmful chemicals present in many building products. Declare describes itself as the nutrition label for products. Developed by the International Living Future Institute, Declare is a rating system for products related to how many or how few RedList chemicals a product contains. The Red List represents the worst in-class materials, chemicals and elements known. Specifying Red-List-free products is becoming easier and easier to do thanks to many manufacturers working to have their products labeled. Learn more at living-future.org/declare/basics/. 8. Design for Resources Carbon. There is a lot of discussion about carbon. When designing a building, consider materials that sequester carbon. Wood is an obvious choice. Mass timber building is very popular here in the Northeastern United States. But other bio-based materials like hemp, bamboo and straw are faster renewing than wood and provide even greater opportunity for sequestering carbon. Hempitecture (www.hempitecture.com) makes a number of hemp-based insulation products — including panels and batts. 9. Design for Change Resilience. We discuss resilience a lot. Designing buildings that last makes sense. By doing this, we are making the most of the materials we specify. Global warming has increased the number of disasters we face. If you are designing public buildings, ask if they are intended to be a shelter. Assess how your building will respond to flooding, hurricanes or tornadoes. And also consider the future use of the building or how it might be dismantled after its useful life. 10. Design for Discovery Another multi-faceted principle. Think about how, during the process of designing a building, you develop a relationship with the client, contractor and local officials and how those relationships will potentially make you a better design professional. Despite all advances in technology and construction methods, I believe the business of architecture is still relationship-based. Don’t forget post-occupancy evaluations. They further the relationships developed, provide lessons learned and cement the learning we have achieved. Lastly, how can your design promote delight? Ben Channon, author of The Happy Design Toolkit, writes about how the initial sense of awe and joy produced when entering a welldesigned building can create a lasting positive feeling in people. Utilizing the Framework for Design Excellence has been a game changer for my practice. It wasn’t difficult to start using it, but we still have a lot to learn about the myriad aspects the Framework presents. It is a great checklist that reminds us of things we usually think about and opens our minds to consider what more we can do to design excellent buildings. 9
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