Thoughts

our ideas from the intersection of sustainability and the built environment

New Sun Rising and evolveEA Receive Environmental Excellence Award for Triboro Ecodistrict Air Quality Projects

by Thoughts?

The American Planning Association selects an evolveEA project as the winning Sustainable Urban Design Plan.

evolve’s LEED Platinum Office

by Thoughts?

We don't just talk about the sustainability walk, we actually walk it too. Learn more about our office's LEED Platinum certification from project manager Nicholas Rubenstein.

Reflections Upon Greenbuild 2021

Having attended all annual Greenbuild conferences to date, Marc Mondor is a seasoned veteran in the industry. Here he shares his reflections on this year's conference and where the movement is headed.

Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan 2021 Makes Headlines

Released every three years, the recent debut of Pennsylvania's Climate Action Plan 2021 is taking even bolder steps for the Commonwealth to realize a sustainable future. See the front-page headline and access the report here.

Schuyler’s Summer with evolveEA

We were lucky to have Shuyler McAuliff join our team for the summer as our 2021 design intern. Learn about his journey and the projects he worked on at evolveEA in this informational interview.

evolveEA’s 2020 Greenhouse Gas Audit

We were curious how our carbon emissions during the COVID pandemic compared to previous years, so we dug into the details. Discover our methodology, analysis, and takeaways as we learned about our impact and use this new data to navigate the changing landscape of a hybrid workforce.

Our Evolving Strategies for Optimizing Existing Buildings

Even though the global pandemic brought most of the world to a halt, building operations still continued. We recognize the challenges COVID brought to building benchmark measurements and applaud two of our clients who were able to attain Energy Star certification despite the hurdles: DMI Industries headquarters in Charleroi, PA, and the historic 411 Seventh Avenue building in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Engaging Pittsburgh Online to Plan for More Vibrant Riverfronts

Over the past year, evolveEA has been assisting the Riverlife Pittsburgh team in crafting a vision to "Complete the Loop" of riverfront trails and parks, and has creatively engaged thousands of people through meetings and online. One of our highlights from this process was the Riverlife StoryMap.

Thoughts

Broadening the Role of the Architect

The American Institute of Architects recently hosted a national panel of experts to discuss the three large issues currently facing our society – Social Justice, Covid-19 and Climate Change. Panelist Marc Mondor contributes his viewpoints at the intersection of these opportunities.

The Role of Design in Social Justice

It is disingenuous to talk about investment and disinvestment as inevitabilities of an agnostic economy. Designers for social justice will actively seek out more ways to elevate the public from passive critics into full-fledged design investors and collaborators, and approach our process as a moment of reconciliation between community and the economic development and design disciplines.