Two decades ago, Washington became a foothold for a global movement to decarbonize buildings.
But since then momentum has sputtered.
The state has access to some of the cleanest and cheapest electricity in the country and yet its building codes remain strict, customers remain skeptical of upfront costs and state policy efforts have struggled to find traction.
Homes, offices and other buildings account for a large portion of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. While local and state efforts to boost interest and investment have seen mixed results, a recent merger between an environmentally innovative Bainbridge Island firm and the world’s second-largest architectural firm offers hope.
Jason McLennan put his firm McLennan Design on the map when he created the Living Building Challenge, a green building certification that influenced and inspired architects, developers and lawmakers around the world. He was also heavily involved in the design of Climate Pledge Arena, among other iconic buildings in and around Seattle. In July, his practice merged with Perkins & Will, an architecture and design firm based in Chicago.
“We’re doing this at a point in time in the world where the urgency around designing higher performance, environmentally responsible buildings is becoming that much more necessary,” said Phil Harrison, CEO of Perkins & Will. “It’s one thing to do a couple green projects from time to time, it’s something else to try to have major large-scale impact.”