Sustainable Design
Sustainable design is at the core of our practice, and is rooted in the belief that architecture and design matter – that through our work, we can make a difference in the world. Since buildings account for roughly 45% of U.S. carbon output, it is imperative that we design with future generations in mind.
Handel Architects is a world leader in sustainable design, and we are the single most experienced firm in the world at large-scale Passive House design. Our work includes The House, which was designed for Cornell Tech's new campus in New York City, and is both LEED Platinum and Passive House certified. Current work includes a new 709-unit tower called Sendero Verde, which will be the largest fully affordable Passive House building in the world; Winthrop Center in Boston, a mixed-use office / residential tower which, when complete, will include 750,000 sq.ft. of Passive House & LEED Platinum office space, making it the world's largest Passive House building; and the University of Toronto's new Passive House Residence Hall at their Scarborough Campus.
Services we offer:
- Passive House Design
- LEED Design
- Enterprise Green Communities
- IBI Well Design
We paved the way for large-scale Passive House design.
Passive House, developed in Germany, is a strict international building standard that drastically reduces energy consumption while creating a healthier and more comfortable living environment for a fraction of the usual energy costs.
Our Passive House experience is unmatched. Handel Architects has a number of Certified Passive House Designers (CPHD) on staff who have lectured extensively on the principles of Passive House design, including recent panel discussions at AIA National, Greenbuild, and the International Passivhaus Institute conference in Vienna.
Our sustainable approach has made headlines.
Our groundbreaking work in Passive House design has led to a variety of feature articles, including pieces by The Atlantic, Metropolis, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
We are thought leaders in the sustainable design community.
We believe that the best way to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the building industry is to make sustainable design easy to understand and inexpensive to build. Our sustainability team has been teaching and lecturing to a variety of building owners, including private developers, non-profits, colleges & universities, and city agencies. Please contact Jonathan Kinsley, Director of Marketing, if you would like to schedule a discussion on how to meet your organization's sustainability goals.
Some recent conversations:
LEED Certification vs. Passive House: Which One is Right For Your Building?
Why Passive House Buildings Create a Healthier Interior Environment
We are advocates for sensible climate policies.
Recent environmental policy decisions by the Biden-Harris administration are encouraging. Handel Architects is proud to stand with organizations like Architects Advocate who offer a unified, bipartisan voice for the architecture community in regards to climate change.
Featured Sustainable Work
