Architecture firm living nicely in the green

When Michael Watson, Tom Savory and Sanders Tate go to work each day in their renovated offices at 1316 Washington St., they are practicing what they preach: Green is good for business.

The offices of Watson Tate Savory Architects, in the former Unity Life Building, last month received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The building, according to the council’s Web site, is the first certified green building in Columbia’s city center.

It is also the first renovation in the Midlands to receive LEED Certification. Green buildings are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

All three men, partners in the architectural firm, are LEED-accredited architects. In fact, all of the architects who work for the firm are LEED-accredited, except one who is scheduled to take the certification exam soon.

Watson said the firm didn’t feel like it could preach green design to its clients if it wasn’t actually practicing it.

The new office allows the firm’s clients to see what can be done with green design, Savory said.

Tate said more of their clients are looking at green buildings, but from two perspectives.

“The majority say they want sustainable design, but only up a point,” he said, and that point is the money required.

But building green is getting less expensive, and there is a lot of misperception about the cost of going green, the architects said.

A global survey by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development found that “key players in real estate and construction misjudge the costs and benefits of green buildings.”

The 1,400 respondents to the survey put the additional cost of building green at 17 percent more than conventional construction when the true difference is closer to 5 percent, the council said.

But even that increased cost can be recouped through energy savings. The architectural firm’s energy costs have “gone way down,” with the new building, Savory said.

The whole idea of LEED certification is to incorporate design features to reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of the work environment.

Taking a building green can involve building in a whole range of ideas and features from the simple — a bicycle rack in front of the office to encourage employees not to drive — to the more complex like waterless urinals, thermostats on timers and low energy light fixtures on motion sensors.

Watson Tate also got credit in the evaluation process for the reuse of the existing building as well as for the kinds of materials used to renovate it.

The firm has received three design awards in the past year for the renovation of the 1939 building, which the firm bought in 2006. It had been vacant for many years.

The building is a historically unique example of early 20th century modern design and is currently under review by the city for Historic Landmark Designation.

Before and during World War II, a section of the building housed the local Selective Service Office.

Renovating the building was a challenge, Savory said. It had been turned into “a rabbit’s warren of offices.” The interior was completely gutted and redone.

The architects are proud of being housed in the city’s first green building.

Getting a building LEED certified is “not a slam-dunk,” Tate said. It takes about four to five months to get the certification after all the work is done.

It requires a great deal of measurement and third-party certification that the building is meeting standards.

All of that is done to avoid “greenwashing,” Watson said, making it stylish and saying it is green, while not really doing anything for the environment.

With its LEED-certified building, Watson Tate Savory Architects can show clients what being green is about.

“We like to think we can get a great design and embrace it,” Watson said.

GREEN IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

The Climate Protection Action Committee and the city of Columbia are presenting the inaugural Green is Good for Business Climate Protection Action Conference.

What: A daylong conference fo-cused on the need for business to respond to growing concerns about air pollution, climate change and energy efficiency.

When: 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sept. 24

Where: Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

Admission: Business 3 tickets, $100; general admission, $50; student, community leader and neighborhood association mem-ber, $35

To register/details: Visit www.columbiachamber.com or call the Columbia Department of Public Works at (803) 545-3780, or e-mail pub-licworks@columbiasc.net.