Sustainable Design Consulting
We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our new officemate, Viridiant, at our Richmond location!
Through more than 23 years in practice, SDC has been known as a leader in green building consulting for commercial-scale projects across the Mid-Atlantic and beyond, including a strong portfolio in multi-unit residential development using LEED, Green Globes, ENERGY STAR, Enterprise Green Communities
On November 7, at Architecture Exchange East in Richmond, SDC's Luis Huertas presents ‘Fort Bradshaw LBC Certification – Challenges and Lessons’ and SDC co-sponsors the building tours! SDC projects on tour include SMBW's Virginia Public Media Headquarters and Baskervill's two new Richmond community centers: Luck’s Field and T.B. Smith . Will we see you there?
Earlier this month, SDC's Kara Strong and Brendan Collier presented ‘Designing for Low-Carbon Buildings’ at DesignDC. Miss it? They’ve now distilled it down to this summary on using life-cycle assessments (LCAs).
As buildings become more energy-efficient, embodied carbon plays an increasingly significant role in how buildings contribute to climate change. Embodied carbon refers to greenhouse gases associated with the production....
Earlier this year, SDC soft-launched its Sustainable Asset Management service line. Complementing our proven track record of LEED for Operations + Maintenance certification and related guidance, these new and expanded services focus on identifying, optimizing, and measuring sustainable operations within existing
SDC is honored to be featured by USGBC+ in an article entitled Community Impact: Organizations Making a Difference!
Writes author Rebecca Emanuelsen, “The U.S. Local Market Leadership Awards at USGBC recognize projects, people and partners for excellence in creating better buildings and improving their local communities.
SDC celebrates being selected by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)'s DC, Maryland, and Virginia local markets for one of the Community Impact Awards!
We're also proud that the following three of our regional projects have won awards, as follows:
- Ecological Conservation and Restoration Award: VIMS—The Acuff Center for Aquaculture, Gloucester Point, Virginia
SDC is proud to announce that James Reinersten has been recognized by Green Building Initiative! as one of seven Green Globes Fellows in 2024! “Green Globes Fellows…are expert users of GBI programs who contribute to the shaping of GBI’s educational content and tool development and are regarded as exceptional leaders in the green building industry who drive meaningful change.” For more information on GBI’s Fellows
Congratulations to SDC’s own Celeste Garrett for the recognition she received yesterday by SMPS Virginia! A 15-year member of Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM), Celeste has previously served as SMPS Virginia’s Sponsorship Coordinator, Vice-President, and President. Her longstanding dedication to SMPS is a testament to her commitment
Virginia’s impactful legislation enacted in 2021 via HB2001 has now been updated! The 2021 law provided a strong update to Virginia’s prior statute for green public buildings by both updating the state government requirements and introducing an entirely new and innovative section for local governments. This new section took immediate effect for larger localities, while providing a two-year delay for the smaller
Just in time to close out Women’s History Month, SDC’s Sandra Leibowitz was invited to share her thoughts with both the national U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and state-wide Virginia Energy Efficiency Council (VAEEC) – two key membership organizations in which she has been active over the years. For USGBC, Sandra spoke with Chuck Jennes as a featured guest on their new “Executive’s Corner”
SDC’s Kristin Arnoldi has joined USGBC Virginia’s Market Leadership Advisory Board (MLAB)! According to USGBC: “The MLAB serves as a crucial component in advancing USGBC's mission to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and
SDC celebrates Sandra Leibowitz being named a recipient of USGBC Virginia's 2023 Community Impact Award! This prestigious honor recognizes "the people and partners in the community who strive for excellence in high-performance, healthy design and building, environmental stewardship, and community impact."
SDC is thrilled to announce LEED Platinum-level certification for the Thurston Hall Renovation at The George Washington University! This project renovated the existing ~200,000 gsf/1,000+ bed residence hall, which was originally built as an apartment building in 1929 and converted to a residence hall in the early 1960’s. Designed by VMDO Architects, the current renovation
SDC is excited to have a great many of our completed, LEED-certified, DC-area projects featured on the Greenbuild tours on September 26 and 29!”
Included on that list:
-Several buildings in NOMA/Eckington/Union Market neighborhood.
- Potomac Yard Metro Station
- DC's Southwest Neighborhood Library
SDC's Luis Huertas has now been appointed onto Richmond’s Green City Commission as its ‘green building’ member! This public body serves as an advisory commission to Richmond's City Council and is comprised of a combination of appointed Richmond-area citizens and City staff, including the Director
DC’s Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS) was established by legislation from Council in 2018, but many property managers and owners are just now focusing on the program because April 3rd was the first major deadline: compliance pathway selection. BEPS sets median ENERGY STAR scores for various building types and now all buildings over 50,000 GSF
It is with great sadness that we share the news of last week’s passing of our beloved former colleague, Steven Piguet. Steven served on the SDC Team from 2008 through 2021 in the capacities of Washington, DC office Senior Associate, Associate Principal, and Director, Special Programs. He was a dedicated professional who made significant contributions to the green ...
SDC is proud to announce that Marisa Britton has been appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to the State of Maryland's Green Building Council. "The Council was created in 2007 to guide Maryland’s High-Performance Building Program. The Council is composed of private sector and State agency membership. It makes recommendations
SDC enjoyed watching TWO of our projects receive THREE USGBC Virginia community leader awards this week! Pictured here is Henrico County's LEED Gold Fairfield Area Library, designed by Quinn Evans and Tappé Architects, which won BOTH the Innovative Project of the Year – New Construction and People's Choice awards! Our other winning project was
SDC is excited to announce that our LEED Gold and LBC Petal-certified renovation project at Williams College has been honored with the Built Environment Plus award for Carbon & Energy! Designed by MCWB Architects and built by A/Z Corporation, this student housing project takes campus sustainability to new heights.
SDC is honored to have served the professional building community with consulting excellence for 20 years! From our humble beginnings in Sandra Leibowitz’s home to a far-reaching firm operating from offices in both Richmond, Virginia and Washington, DC – we’ve come a long way, baby!
In this time, SDC has grown with the green building industry
At last night's Midsummer Night's Green event, USGBC National Capital Region honored SDC's LEED Platinum-level certified Southwest Neighborhood Library with BOTH the Climate Champion AND People’s Choice project awards! Accepting the award on behalf of DC Public Library was Director, Capital Planning and Construction
We’re thrilled to announce LEED Platinum certification for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center’s Macon and Joan Brock Classroom! Designed by Tymoff + Moss Architects, this 1,500 sf addition provides hands-on learning for students in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools Environmental Studies Program.
