LOISOS + UBBELOHDE | Architecture . Energy

Comfort is found in the coolness of a shadow.
- Louis I. Kahn

PRACTICE
We specialize in high performance buildings, providing architectural consulting, design and research with a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability. Our consulting is specialized in daylighting, lighting design, energy modeling, comfort analysis, evaluation of building performance and LEED certification. We bring a unique perspective to a project, integrating both architectural and engineering approaches to building design and implementation. We emphasize a collaborative relationship with our clients and an integrated design process, working closely with design teams to develop designs that use both traditional and innovative technologies. We work with an iterative process which moves between technical analysis, research and the generation of designs. For over 25 years, the partners have been at the forefront of university and industry-sponsored research. Our buildings have received 21 AIA awards, including three projects that have received the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects Award. Sixteen of our projects have been LEED certified, including one platinum project, three gold, and one silver.

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
We ask a building to create pure air, water and soil, store rainwater and solar energy, produce food, consume its own wastes, maintain itself, provide wildlife habitat, match nature's cycles, moderate local weather and be beautiful. Looking to natural and biological processes, sometimes called "biomimicry," can offer elegant, ecological and sophisticated models for the design and operation of buildings and sites. "Biophilia," or the profound love of the natural world, is another crucial basis for sustainable design. To connect to nature, we design buildings that open to daylight and natural ventilation. We bring the indoors and outdoors into close relationship while providing refuge from extreme conditions, whether they are natural, such as a hot summer afternoon, or social, such as traffic noise and chaos. A building should provide a place to live comfortably and with awareness between the earth and sky. We firmly believe that buildings which are generous in spirit and space and are made with natural materials and quality of workmanship are those which last over time. They most easily accommodate change and reuse and, most importantly, hold the affection and continued investment of the community.

Carbon Fund

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE
We believe sustainable practice must be an integral part of our work. Our office employs electric lighting on daylight dimming and occupancy sensors, window shades on automatic controls, and increased insulation and ceiling fans to regulate temperature. We are a carbon-neutral firm; the majority of our office commutes by bicycle and all of the firm's air and car travel is offset. As a Bay Area Green Business we use recycled paper products, recycle and compost our waste, use a green cleaning service for the office, and buy organic produce and sustainable products. Sustainability education is also foundational to the mission of Loisos + Ubbelohde: we teach seminars, publish and present our research at symposia around the world, and the office actively supports continuing education for all staff.