PRESCOTT, AZ - November 8, 2011- Catalyst Architecture's LEED-Accredited principals Matthew Ackerman and Jeffrey Zucker are busting green building myths one project at a time.  With a growing portfolio to demonstrate their success, Catalyst is proving that sustainable design does not come at the price of beauty, or even at a price.  As Zucker puts it, "Green buildings do not, by definition, cost more.  You don't take a conventional building and then add 'green' to it--a sustainable project is more than the sum of its parts."

With energy and resource efficiency, reduced maintenance and operation costs, and careful site integration as the guiding goals for their work, Ackerman and Zucker have added a crucial design factor that contributes significantly to their project success.  "We consider our Client's finances in evaluating the overall sustainability of each project," states Ackerman.  "Sustaining financial resources is just as important as sustaining the material and energy resources of our buildings."

Turning traditional value engineering on its head, Catalyst Architecture's unique Value Optimization Process (VOP) provides a structured approach to this financial sustainability ethic.  By uniting key Architecture and Engineering Design Team members with representatives of the construction trades early in the design process, the Design Team gains valuable insight into constructability and maximizes the integration of mechanical, electrical, and structural systems.  This whole-system design approach nets significant gains for the project's sustainability, both ecologically and financially.

CATALYST'S proven VOP has consistently eliminated redundancies and improved efficiencies throughout facility design on three consecutive projects in the last year.  CATALYST has used this process to achieve on-time, under-budget project delivery for two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Visitor Center and Administrative Complexes in California and Texas, as well as the Yavapai County Administration Building in Prescott, Arizona.  The LEED-Platinum seeking San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and the LEED-Silver seeking Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) were both designed using VOP for a combined savings of $750,000.  All sixteen bids on the Yavapai County Administration Building came in below budget and the winning bid was so far below projected costs that the County has the option to include three additional-alternate design elements that will contribute to the project's energy-efficiency.

All three projects demonstrate an integrated, systems approach to sustainability. The San Luis NWR Visitors Center is the largest ARRA-funded USFWS project in the nation and will be the first Less-Than-Zero Energy design within the USFWS system.  Carefully integrated passive solar and mechanical systems manage the indoor environment for efficiency and comfort.  The building makes use of recycled, reused, regional and low-emitting materials.  The Hagerman NWR Visitors Center features native limestone walls and integral shading trellises planted with local vine species for seasonal shading.  Innovative canted glass reflects the earth to mitigate bird strikes in the facility's sensitive wetland ecosystem.  The two projects celebrated their Grand Openings one month apart in August and September of this year.

The Yavapai County Administration Building is designed to maximize open office areas and incorporate common-sense energy-efficiency with extensive natural daylighting, rainwater harvesting, and an innovative heat-recovery ventilation system.  The building's steel super structure is completed by an exterior, load-bearing masonry perimeter and Structural-Insulated-Panel (SIPS) roof envelope, increasing the facility's energy-efficiency and reducing maintenance costs.  The 24,000 square foot structure will be a state-of-the-art model for contemporary, flexible work space.  Construction is anticipated to be complete by June 12, 2012.

For More Information:
Our Value Optimization Process
Government Goes Green: Yavapai County's New Environmentally Friendly Admin. Building

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CATALYST ARCHITECTURE is an award winning, full-service sustainable design firm with offices in Prescott, and Flagstaff Arizona. The firm specializes in master planning, interpretive, public, tribal, commercial, and custom residential work, with an emphasis on high-performance, resource-efficient design and construction practices.  With both principals Jeffrey L. Zucker and Matthew B. Ackerman LEED accredited, Catalyst is committed to the thoughtful integration of our natural and built environments.