Farr Associates is a firm of optimistic architects and planners passionate about cities, sustainability and leadership. We operate with an intent to innovate, tracking opportunities to achieve local, regional or even global “firsts.” Our planners and architects work in integrated design teams to create award-winning designs that provide the most client benefit for the least cost. Our best work results from close collaboration with clients on projects that aspire to attain social, economic and environmental goals, often at the crossroads of urbanism and architecture.
Farr Associates’ legacy of leadership in sustainable planning is unmatched. Our practice — “scaled up sustainability” – is years ahead of any demand for such work. Not only do we plan, design, and build cutting-edge projects that demonstrate to the world that these things are possible, we conceived and authored a globally-influential standard for sustainable planning and a professional textbook. We are a firm of optimistic architects and planners passionate about cities, sustainability, and leadership. Several strategies we employ to reduce our negative human impact are as follows:
- Committing ourselves to environmental accountability and transparency through our designation as a Benefit Corporation and Just Organization
- Focusing on our “theory of change” that involves collectively working toward a meaningful and magnified impact through the identification of long-term goals.
- Designing all projects with our firm’s AIA 2030 commitment in mind.
- Evaluating multiple envelope and mechanical systems to optimize performance.
- Accounting for embodied carbon.
- Reducing average monthly office energy use (kWh) from 2017 baseline by 10%
- Offsetting all office-, business travel-, and paper-related carbon emissions
- Encouraging our building owner to invest in smart controls for tenant plug loads and building-wide heating & cooling equipment.
“In our practice, we do all that we can to reduce our carbon usage. We design carbon-free buildings and places; we have a ‘red list free’ material library in our office, and don’t allow manufacturers to provide samples if they do not create healthy and transparent products; we collect all compostables and recyclables for diversion from landfill.
We try really hard to reduce our environmental impact as much as possible, but unfortunately, because systems are in place that require carbon use, we can’t be as effective as we’d like. This is why we are partnering with Carbonfund – to identify and track opportunities where we can improve and offset the small amount that we can’t.” – Gabrielle Peterson, Marketing Director