Green architects striving to design efficient home offices

Architects wanting to design green buildings for clients have chosen to walk the talk by designing energy efficient office buildings for themselves.

A two-story contemporary office building designed by Gui Denby Inc. at 855 S. Center St. was designed to achieve a Gold LEED designation, says Michael McStroul, part owner and office manager. It's set for completion next month.

And next year, Architectural Design Group plans to move into a passive solar structure planned for 507 W.

Sixth St. Robert Fabri and Sam Updike will then lease office space from the building owner, their current landlord.

"We want to get contemporary passive solar out there," says Fabri. The strategy: get high profile buildings in the public eye.

Center Street is ripe for such a building, says LEED certified architect Allyson Wong Denby. "That neighborhood is in an upward swing. It's being revitalized. We wanted to reflect that."

A good first step, she says, is choosing an infill site. However, she adds, "Sustainable building still has a rough-around-the-edges image to it." But, she adds, the Center Street project will show that, "It can look

like any other contemporary building." Rob Wong is general contractor.

The ground level measures 1,228 square feet and the upper level measures 1,584 square feet. The building features photovoltaic roof panels, natural day lighting and water conservation features.

The Sixth Street design, named Office 507, is also designed for infill, in the backyard of an existing two-story Craftsman bungalow. The office has a dainty footprint: its 20 by 40-foot pad will support a 1,200 square foot building. While permits have not yet been issued, the architects note that the street already houses an eclectic mix of historic and contemporary structures.

Meanwhile, Architectural Design Group partners Fabri and Updike have designed a small community comprised of six homes earmarked for a one-acre infill lot on West Vassar St. But construction won't begin, they say, until property owner Jimmy Rodriguez pre-sells the first three houses.

Priced in the low $200,000, the Vassar Street Community models range from 1,266 to 1,437 square feet. The homes will feature 25 percent glass on the south side with concrete slabs providing thermal mass to store daytime warmth and nighttime cooling.

The designers expect the homes, styled as high desert contemporary, to appeal to younger, first-time buyers. Keeping in mind the limited incomes of that market, the two-story models will be pre-wired for active solar panels should the owners decide to spring for pricey photovoltaic collectors at a later date.

The team points to scale models of residential passive solar homes they've designed that have been built. But those private commissions do nothing to spread the green, for they're tucked out of sight in gated communities or hidden far back in the forest.