Investigations
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Lake|Flato strives to create restorative environments that reduce carbon emissions and enhance our understanding and relationship with the natural world. Our work reflects the belief that sustainability and design are two sides of the same coin — balanced, integrated, and inseparable. We design beautiful, healthy, highly efficient design solutions and system strategies that are tailored to each project and location. Design performance provides us with a clear path to achieving sustainability by integrating design with building performance, technology, research, innovation, and equity...
Embodied Carbon Update: Investigations and Greenbuild In 2009, Lake|Flato began its carbon reduction journey when we adopted the 2030 Challenge and started tracking operation carbon on all projects. Carbon is also known as the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with global warming potential (GWP). Buildings account for 39% of global GHG emissions, making it a high priority for designers to help reduce carbon through both operational and embodied methods. Embodied carbon specifically refers to the GWP associated with the GHG emissions produced during a material’s full life cycle (...
Investigations Team: Adam Martin, Cameron Goldsmith As cities in Texas grow their economies, the demand for housing especially in and near urban areas increases, and in-turn, the price of housing increases beyond the ability of many Texans to afford a decent quality of life. A variety of government-sponsored financial incentive mechanisms exist for private developers who wish to build affordable housing. In most Texas cities, these incentive programs are not mandatory, but may be pursued by any multi-family or mixed-use development. While some publicly owned affordable housing still exists in...
Investigations Team: Ashley Hereen, Justin Garrison, Melina Phillips, James Thoreen How are urban landscapes and urban development related? How do urban landscapes influence development trends in communities within a region? How does open space influence the character of a community? How can unique environmental and ecological contexts be leveraged to create meainfgul and memorable destinations that foster community? How can design facilitate connections and enable meaninful interactions between people and their environments? These are the questions asked by our Investigations initiative in...
This May 19th-23rd, hundreds of academic researchers and design practitioners will gather virtually for the 52 nd annual Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) conference to share new research-based knowledge about the built environment, with a focus this year on just environments. Presentations in the past have covered topics as wide-ranging as design technology, sustainability art, ecodistricts, and workplace design, with most work addressing some aspect of the climate crisis, wellness and/or equity. Besides allowing fun glimpses into countless ongoing research efforts, EDRA...
Investigations Team: Andrew Herdeg, Kelly Weckman, Allison Peitz We are at a critical point in time in which the “silver wave” of the baby boomer generation is growing rapidly and beginning to enter retirement age. This large cohort of seniors will need housing, and ideally, housing that can fit their changing needs as they age. There is a growing desire to age in place and avoid the upheaval of displacement so late in life. Senior living communities that can adapt to the changing needs of aging seniors are becoming a commodity, and as this sector grows there is an opportunity to explore...
