Innovative Design Looks to the Sun for Sustainable Solutions

Mike Nicklas, Innovative Design president, says for 30 years his architectural firm has been doing what people are now calling green through incorporating solar energy into each of its projects.

In 1992, as vice-president of the International Solar Energy Society, he says he was struck with the discovery that when looking at all the issues of global sustainability — including water, forests and agriculture — two-thirds of the problems are traced back to energy.

“It goes right down the line along all of these issues and much of it is driven by the energy decisions that we make, so we’ve taken that to heart ever since then and have really focused on the energy side,” he says.

He says carbon-neutral buildings are absolutely necessary to save the world from climate change.

With close to 5,000 solar buildings designed, Nicklas says the firm’s emphasis has been on solar “because we knew ultimately that would be the thing that would get us to a sustainable world.”

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has challenged its firms to take a leadership role to reduce energy consumption by adopting the AIA 2030 Commitment. The commitment includes reducing the energy consumption of all new building designs by 50 per cent, with the goal to have carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.

Innovative Design participated in developing the pledges for AIA and the Raleigh, North Carolina-based firm has adopted the commitment.

“We’ve been very committed to that level of efficiency, so at this point we are designing our buildings for at least 60 per cent reduction in energy consumption of a typical building,” he says. “We simply don’t take any work unless that’s the goal of the owner.”

It is becoming more important that new companies incorporate renewable energy into their buildings and explore energy solutions to best utilize natural resources, especially in the roof and walls, says Nicklas.

Specializing in educational, residential and commercial buildings, Nicklas says their biggest design driver is daylighting, which utilizes natural light during the day through the placement of windows or other openings.

Daylighting provides a good return with minimal upfront cost, he says. After looking at the daylighting needs the firm considers solar hot water systems, solar space heating systems, solar absorption cooling systems and photovoltaics.

“You need to start with your building design and incorporate the technologies that will get you to your ultimate goal,” he says.

— More to Come

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