Sparkflight Studios

Hosted by Green Chips , the Green by Southwest Conference is a 3-day event held this week starting Thursday, April 3 and running through Saturday, April 5.  Events include: leadership conferences breakout sessions professional education expo and mixer bicycling and walking tours It's an opportunity to re-connect, learn and be inspired.  Hope to see you there! Learn more at the Green Chips website and register at the USGBC NV website .

To back up a bit, LEED is a third-party certification process for energy efficient and "green" building.  It stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  LEED AP stands for LEED Accredited Professional, and is someone who has undertaken extensive training and continues to gain experience and knowledge in the field of sustainable building. According to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) website, "The Credential Maintenance Program (CMP) is the process by which LEED APs with specialty and LEED Green Associates renew their LEED credentials every two years through continuing education.  The renewal process allows LEED professionals to continue developing professionally within the field of green building, enhancing their resumes and improving job performance. It continues rewarding hard work while renewing the credential holder’s commitment to green building and sustainability." Our firm principal's specialty is a LEED AP sin...

Usually, solar panels are visualized on the roofs of buildings, or scattered somewhere in the desert.  However, thanks to thin film photovoltaic and other new technologies, we will start seeing more building integrated solar production, known as BIPV . One new solution for a solar-powered building surface is the HeliOptix solar façade.  Syracuse University’s Center for Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems is the first place this new and innovative solar façade is being tested. HeliOptix has designed an integrated, tracking solution that uses the concentrating power of Fresnel lenses.  These windows generate energy by using an array of tiny generators that “follow the sun like a field of transparent flowers.  Each lens-and-solar-cell molecule collects light onto a photovoltaic cell while heating up a trickle of water.  (Ferris, David. “ Innovate: Windows That Generate Energy”   Sierra Magazine , March/April 2011: Page 22). Click here to view ...

Article by Anne exploring current trends in green building, commercial retrofits, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding, Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC), and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification: "Real estate and construction markets are experiencing a growing interconnection of green building and our economy. “Show me the money!” now requires a green edge. The United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) “Green Jobs Study” projects over 7.9 million jobs and $396 billion in labor earnings from green construction for 2009 through 2013. This is encouraging for our national and regional economic recovery...Recent studies and our own hands-on experience identify the following trends for 2010 and beyond: • Green building growth led by existing building operations and tenant improvements • Increased renewable energy production and energy conservation retrofits with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ...

Although limited by its restriction to the LEED rating system standard, the latest Green Building Market & Impact Report 2009 by Rob Watson is a useful snapshot of current status and projections for the green construction industry.  USGBC's Green Jobs Study , prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton , evaluates the economic impact of green buildings in terms of the "total number of direct, indirect, and induced jobs created from green building expenditures." GBCI currently has over 20,156 LEED registered projects totaling 322 million square feet, and that's great news for improving our industry's impact on the environment.  As champions of green building, we'd welcome a total green square footage estimate that takes LEED, Green Globes, and other local Green ratings systems into account.  Although not a comprehensive solution, we still see the investment in LEED certification as being valuable for long-term value and as a road map to green performance outcome...

Report downloads: Green Building Market & Impact Report 2009 (GBMIR) USGBC Green Jobs Study 2009 (GJS) Some highlights: • By 2050 LEED projects should equate 1/2 of a carbon wedge . (GBMIR) • Green Construction projected to contribute $554 Billion, including $396 billion in wages, to U.S. GDP between 2009 and 2013. (GJS) •  “Our goal is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green – and transforming every job in our industry into a green job,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of USGBC. (GJS) • Despite economic flattening, LEED registered and certified floor area in 2009 is estimated to grow by over 40% compared to last year’s totals, for a cumulative total of over 7 billion square feet worldwide since the standard was launched in 2000. (GBMIR) • Total water savings from LEED through 2009 is estimated at 15 billion gallons, comprising 0.5% of annual non-residential water use. By 2030, LEED ...

FREE webinar Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 12:30pm EST This presentation promises to show how green building choices both provide a very high return on investment and a significant decrease in our environmental impact. During this 60 minute webinar a sneak-preview of the Green Building Market & Impact Report 2009 will be presented by the report’s author Robert Watson , GreenerBuildings.com Editor and industry leader. This report is an integrated assessment of the land, water, energy, material and indoor environmental impacts of the LEED for New Construction (LEED NC), Core & Shell (LEED CS) and Existing Building (LEED EB) standards. JohnsonDiversey President & CEO Ed Lonergan will also highlight the importance of sustainability in today’s business environment, offering insights and examples of the company’s work toward improving the sustainability of its customers’ facilities as well as its own. This presentation will detail JohnsonDiversey’s own focus on LEED...

About Us Elevate your space with Sparkflight Studios! We are an award-winning, woman-owned, full-service architecture and design firm that will set your space apart from the ordinary. Since 2004, we have been providing collaborative, client-centered design that integrates sustainable practices into civic, commercial, multifamily residential, and public art projects. See our latest firm news here... GBCI LEED Professional Directory Staff Anne Johnson, LEED AP, Architect & Artist Lucian Laculeanu, Project Manager Melina Soto Clark,  Designer / Job Coordinator James Maurer, Designer Cindy Pavon, Intern Firm Certifications and Professional Credentials Nevada UCP DBE Certification  NV20235437NUCP (orig  NV01238UCPN) ( more ) Federal  SAM, ORCA, WBE  [DUNS 831707265 (AJA), 081036880 (SFS)] NAICS 541310: ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES NAICS 541430: GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES LEED AP NCARB AIA ULI Principal's Professional Ex...