Smart Green Design

While earning LEED® certification on a new building may prove cost prohibitive in both the short and long term, SAI may be able to assist you in obtaining energy star designation for your building, be it old or new, as we have done for one local government.

SAI has recently been engaged by Williams Design out of Clifton, Virginia, to design code-compliant interactive solar electric (photovoltaic) systems in different local jurisdictions, which generate energy and “dump” power back into the electric grid, unlike stand-a-lone solar lighting systems.

We are very proud to have participated in the complex MEP design for several other environmentally-friendly projects—the Canusa Hershman Recycling plant in Manassas, with Loveless Porter Architects, which handles pulp/paper, secondary fiber, and plastics, and Louisa Tire Recycling near Richmond, with Cross Design & Associates, which recycles used tires into crumb rubber. Both designs required coordination with overseas equipment manufacturers in Germany and Asia, and incorporated many energy efficiencies in their plant design as well. Another creative cost-saving project about to go out for bid is a central product delivery system at the Prince William County landfill which will facilitate record-keeping and track fluids for government-owned vehicles, thereby reducing waste associated with small containers and allowing purchasing in bulk.