Sparkflight Studios

Image Credit: NASA. Taken from Emergence Magazine : Ten Love Letters to the Earth by Thich Nhất Hanh. In honor of Earth Day this week, we would like to share with you our passion for creating healthy, equitable, and community-centered design. In our practice areas (Multifamily, Commercial, Interiors, and Public Art) we approach every project with this care and sensitivity. This stems from one of our core beliefs that a healthy, sustainable world is possible. As design professionals, it is our job to ensure that the spaces we live, work, and play support our health. Organizations like the  Healthy Building Network  are raising their voice and partnering with communities to advocate for a built environment in which all people are free of chemicals that harm us. To make spaces where we breathe easy, think clearly, and feel more creative requires research and community buy-in. According to the HBN, of roughly 85,000 chemicals available in the market, few are adequately tested fo...

A country’s overshoot day is the date on which Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity consumed like the people in this country.  Humans use as much ecological resources as if we lived on 1.6 Earths. The Ecological Footprint is the only metric that compares the resource demand of individuals, governments, and businesses against Earth's capacity for biological regeneration. Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2020, Earth Overshoot Day lands on August 22. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Earth Overshoot Day is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international research organization that provides decision-makers with a menu of tools to help the human economy operate within Earth’s ecological limits. More information may be found...

At the halfway point of the charrette This year AIA Las Vegas put a call out to our professional community to coordinate a Blueprint for Better Housing.  This is our local chapter's response to a national project Blueprint for Better that challenges architects to work closely with community leaders to "...tackle key issues from rising water levels and more frequent natural disasters, to diverse housing needs and the increased urgency for sustainable design." After coordination with community stakeholders, the AIA identified three housing categories: Multi-family Mixed Use, Workforce Housing, and Micro Housing.  Key locations within the city were targeted as virtual project sites, and an all-day visioning charrette was held in late August.  Happily, our design teams, six total, consisted of a mix of non-architects like business owners, bankers, government employees, developers--and a few architects and landscape architects too.  This event was just the star...

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...

Design professionals and have been using Building Information Technology, or BIM, for several years now.  During pre-construction, these 3-dimensional and data models inform design by allowing for virtual walk-throughs with clients, coordination of structural-mechanical-electrical-plumbing systems, and 3D testing of details.  Solid physical models can even be built from these virtual models using 3D printing . Additionally, these models create data regarding quantities of components (e.g. building material quantities, or numbers of repeated room modules).  These models also support ecological design assessment, whether native to the software or via import into another program such as Ecotect .  Factors addressed include sun orientation, fenestration, carbon footprint, water usage and more.  Read more about current eco design software here ... Contractors are finding the BIM process useful for site logistics, quantity take-offs, 3D Request for Informat...

A green, or ecological architect, works to more effectively adapt to and integrate with nature's processes. (1) This firm is committed to designing architecture and graphics that inspire you, add to your bottom line, and reduce impact on the environment. Design for results: Energy efficiency Recycled & renewable materials Healthy indoor environment Connection to nature Benefit from rebates & lower operating costs Eco-optimized inks, stocks, and processes As firm principal, and a LEED Accredited Professional , I'm qualified to lead you through the process of achieving measurable success in building sustainably. Discover how design can support living lightly by 'greening' your home or business. (1) see Ecological Design by Sim Van Der Ryn, 1996