SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS

We believe it is important for all of our projects to be as sustainable as the client’s budget and objectives will allow.

• One of the first steps in being sustainable is to endeavor to make sure that the buildings and spaces we design are as flexible as possible and the skin materials are as durable as possible so that the retained energy is not wasted because a structure cannot be re-purposed.
• We were incorporating sustainable features like bio-retention and solar responsive skins into buildings since the 1980’s, long before USGBC brought Sustainable to the forefront.
• When we joined USGBC in 1999 and they needed members, we were one of the first 10 firms in Maryland to join. That was long before joining USGBC and having LEED certifications was a pre-requisite for being in the building industry.
• In 2003, we convinced a developer that putting the first green roof on a commercial building in Montgomery County was a good thing. That effort was rewarded by Peerless Rockville.
• At this point, DNC have designed or renovated over 800,000 SF of LEED Gold Space.
• Not all clients choose to spend the funds for obtaining a LEED Certification, but that should not take away from their contribution. A new building for UA#5 that has Photovoltaics, a thermal envelop that far exceeds todays codes, LED lighting and a grey water system that helped PG County & WSSC write new standards for acceptance, is probably one our most sustainable projects yet.
• We believe in living what we preach. Our Managing Principal lives in a historic house (retained energy), has 4 photovoltaic arrays and geothermal heat pumps, so the house is close to a Net 0 Property.