Harmonizing Sustainability and Luxury Commerical Architecture in Salt Lake City

This article relates to Utah Parade of Homes: Designing with EHD

Building sustainably is vital to designing a successful commercial space here in Salt Lake City. There are many steps in the design process where our architects and interior designers choose eco-friendly choices that have a positive impact on the final result. From sourcing local materials to using windows with a high R-value (better insulation), our design choices guarantee a long-lasting and efficient space.

Sourcing Local Materials

One of the benefits of working with EHD is we combine interior design and architecture and work with our clients to choose high-end, local materials at every point of the design process, whether that material will be used for a fireplace or exterior cladding. One of the main reasons why it is important to source local materials whenever possible is because it reduces the initial embodied energy of your construction. Initial embodied energy is the amount of energy needed to construct a building. The processing, manufacturing, and transportation of materials all contribute to this initial embodied energy. By choosing a local material from preferably a smaller business, not only are you reducing the overall carbon emissions that are created to produce these materials but you are also helping to support your local economy.

Using Natural Light

Along with sourcing high-quality sustainable materials, at EHD we prioritize using passive design strategies whenever possible. By using natural light, orientating the building according to the sun, and implementing louvers, solar panels, etc., we can reduce the overall carbon footprint needed to sustain a building. These tactics also make a home or commercial space more efficient and reduce energy costs.

Here in Salt Lake City, we have no shortage of natural light and temperatures can fluctuate a lot between the hot summers and the cold winters. For this reason, it is important to be mindful of where you place windows as these are the primary location of heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. In addition, not only does natural light recipe the need for artificial light, but numerous studies have shown that it also helps improve the quality of life and happiness of people in those spaces.

Implementing sustainable strategies at every step of the design process is the most ethical and intelligent way to run an architecture and interior design firm. Buildings are responsible for about 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. It is up to us to reduce this number and design responsibly with our environment to save our planet, reduce energy costs, and improve our daily lives.