Sustainable Design
Sustainable Design is a theory of architectural practice that seeks to develop buildings that minimize the negative impact on our natural environment. This impacts several areas of design including energy efficiency, the use of environmentally responsible and renewable materials, and the design for healthy living environments for the building users. Pimsler Hoss Architects has consistently incorporated these principles into our work. Some projects, such as the Southface Energy Institute, East Lake Commons, and the Georgia Environmental Education Center have been fortunate to win design awards as demonstations of Sustainable Design principles in practice. We believe that it is an architect’s responsibility to integrate this design approach into the everyday palette of design.

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East Lake Commons
This 67 unit co-housing project was master planned and developed in collaboration with Village Habitat. The design is a land conservation project, concentrating the units on 1/2 of the available land, leaving the remaining area as open green space. The units are arranged so that, once inside the complex, access to everything is via pedestrian traffic. The project was completed in 2000 and has since won numerous design awards for its sustainable building concepts.

The Georgia Environmental Education Center
The Georgia Environmental Education Center, initially awarded to Pimsler Hoss as the result of a Georgia AIA competition, is a multi-use facility developed to be an example of sustainable design. The building functions as a water testing laboratory as well as an environmental education center with classrooms and an exhibit hall. It also provides administrative offices for the city of Alpharetta Environmental Services. Sustainable design features include a rainwater cistern, which uses precipitation to irragate adjacent gardens, and passive solar heating in conjunction with natural daylight. The focus of the center is as a gateway to raise awareness to its 36 acre wetlands site.

Green Earth Multi-Family Housing
PHA master planned the site for both single-family and multi-family housing with the developer. In addition to the master plan, each of the single-family residences was modified according to solar orientation to maximize energy efficiency. The homes were evaluated for compliance with Earth Craft design criteria, and each of the homes met or exceeded these criteria.

Southface Energy and Environmental Resource Center
Southface is a 6,000 square foot state-of-the-art demonstration and research center promoting sustainable energy and environmental technologies. The facility serves as a demonstration home illustrating green design and building principles. It also holds educational programs and provides an extensive resource library. This project won an AIA Design Award for Sustainable Design in 1997.