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NAHB, LEED, Energy Star…. Where do you start? What certification is best? Is it all worth it? These are topics that we will be covering. Currently, we are certifying a Built Green 3-Star, and working through the process of NAHB National Green Building Certification and Builder’s Challenge Certification for the Hare House Phase 2, our first Design Build project, currently under construction.
I will admit, it’s tedious. I don’t love doing envelope analysis and having to hunt down U-values and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients from garage door manufacturers who have no clue what I am talking about.
But, the point is, it will get easier. The criteria in the checklists will not have to be as detailed, because our way of building will change. The local distributor for that garage door company said that many people have asked those same questions, but he has not yet been able to find the answers. The important thing is that people are asking. The answers will become standard, and we won’t have to spend as much time thinking about the U-value of a garage door. Which, by the way, I still don’t know.
We try to make it as clear as possible that we are legally “designers” and not yet licensed “architects.” Though the “design” that we focus on in this blog is architecture, we steer clear of the word as not to dip into any murky, technical legal waters. Although we are not yet licensed architects, Anna holds a Bachelor of Architecture (Master of Urban Design) and I hold a Master of Architecture.
Anna has completed 8 out of 9 exams towards licensure, while I am the beginning of the exam process. After Anna’s testing is complete and she receives her architecture license from the state of Washington, you will see a change in our website and in all of our public communication.
Becoming a licensed architect is a very important milestone in the eyes of the state, and will of course be a cause for celebration, but the spirit and day to day matters of our practice will not change. For me, it will be another stop, albeit an important stop, on the journey that began when I churned out my first floor plans on the back of my dad’s scrap sales reports at age 6. Although then I said, “When I grow up, I want to be an architect,” for now, “When I grow up, I want to be an intern architect enrolled in the IDP program with 15% of the ARE completed” will have to do.