Sustainability: Home




  • According to BOMA, the commerical real estate industry spends approximately $24 billion annually on energy costs.
  • Energy is the largest controllable expense for office buildings, typically one-third of variable expenses.
Green Building, Sustainable Design, Energy Conscious Design, LEED
...whatever the name, Lindhout Associates has been designing healthy, energy efficient and community beneficent projects for the past 50 years.

"Green" Building

...why it makes sense
  • Reduced Capitol Costs - Infrastructure costs can be lowered with improved storm water systems.  Mechanical systems can be downsized with intelligent envelope design.
  • Reduced Operating Costs - Green buildings use an average of 30% less purchased energy than conventional buildings.  Water usage is also decreased.
  • Increased Productivity - People spend up to 90% of their time indoors where the concentration of pollutants is typically higher than outdoors.  The issue of indoor air quality, as well as natural day lighting levels, temperature and lighting controls can have a dramatic effect on productivity.
According to a USBGC/Capital E analysis, the average up front green building cost premium over conventional buildings is  2%.  Green building makes sense whether or not you wish to pursue LEED certification.

LEED Certification
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System was designed by the USGBC to promote sustainable green building.  LEED certification provides independent, third party verification that a building project is indeed conforming to high standards of environmental responsibility.

We have several LEED accredited architects on staff ready to assist you with LEED building and certification.  If you have need of 3rd party acknowledgement, including certain grant programs, we can provide you with a chart of possible certification levels and the cost implications of each one.  Tests are then structured which verify to you and the USGBC that your project performs as intended.  One of our projects, St. Patrick North Campus in Brighton is on track to being the first LEED certified, catholic K-8 school in the United States.

Evaluating Your Options
Your green building solution is evaluated in a number of ways:  costs, productivity, health and environmental impact.  A green cost-benefit analysis will allow you to review the up front cost for each component, it's benefit, and the long term value;  yielding a strategy for what will be most beneficial for your project. 

We recently assisted a client in their decision to install small wind turbines.  Our study measured how much average wind power would be available throughout the day and how that power would correlate with customer peak demand.  See a Recent Wind Study>