History
Founded in 1909, Lionakis has a long, rich history of architectural practice and sustainable design. We were an early signer of the AIA 2030 Commitment, and in 2009 and we drafted our first Sustainability Action Plan.
Studio and Areas of Focus
The Sustainability Studio at Lionakis supports sustainability throughout the design process and across the firm. We offer a range of different services and strive to meet project scope, budget, and schedule while implementing successful sustainability strategies. First and foremost, the studio emphasizes the importance of an integrated design process and works to promote sustainability in early design phases. We do so by facilitating discussions early, often joining our design teams on interviews and working closely with our clients to identify relevant and achievable sustainability goals. These goals are confirmed through an eco-charrette, conducted regardless of project certification, giving all team members an opportunity to collaborate. We are always available as a resource to all other studios and often support designers and architects looking to incorporate sustainability on their own accord.
The studio’s areas of focus include LEED certification and documentation, CHPS documentation, SITES documentation, photovoltaic consulting, daylighting strategies, and occupant health and wellness. Many of our projects are LEED certified; we guide and formalize documentation for certification and ensure our projects meet their LEED goals through both design and construction. We have experience consulting both CHPS and SITES certified projects as well. We strive to integrate photovoltaics firmwide if project scope and budget allows and work closely in tandem with electrical consultants to provide renewable energy in an effort to support net zero infrastructure. We maintain current, technical understanding of various sustainability softwares, including LadyBug and Insight 360, and support both education and integration of these valuable tools into design workflow. Our Studio Captain is WELL accredited, and we emphasize occupant health and wellness on all projects, particularly within the Healthcare and Interiors studios. Some occupant health strategies incorporated into our project consultations include proper daylight, ventilation, quality views, thermal comfort, and biophilic design.
Education
The Sustainability Studio acts not merely as project consultant, but also functions as an educational resource within the firm. Working to share our expertise and empower all designers to engage with sustainability and regenerative design, we host a slew of various educational series and outreach programs. The studio publicizes monthly Green Tuesday sessions, during which a green industry seminar is made accessible to all employees to bolster awareness for sustainability and also help LEED accredited employees maintain their education hours. We also host a virtual series entitled ‘Sustain and Sip,’ which occur bi-monthly; each presentation features 15 minutes of sustainability content presented by a Lionakis employee passionate about a specific topic or project. In entering our second season of this successful educational series, we continue to support firm-wide knowledge sharing and passive design strategies. We encourage LEED accreditation by offering an annual 6-week Green Associates study group, including test taking tips and LEED topic presentations. This past year we had 18 participants in our Green Associates study group and hope to follow this momentum and organize our first WELL accreditation training sessions.
Enjoy the gallery of photos below which showcases some of our most recently completed projects in our Civic, Healthcare, Education and Science & Technology Studios, all of which incorporated sustainable design strategies such as natural daylighting, use of abundant local natural resources, native plantings requiring little to no water in drought areas, and biophilic design.
