I have a friend and his dad owns an architect firm in Fort Worth, Texas. Scott Wilson is one of the owners of Quorum Architects. They’ve been in business for almost 20 years. Quorum Architects try to build with the earth in mind. I talked a little with Scott about how his company is trying to help with conservation and help in maintaining habitats.

J: Why are you interested in conservation in architecture?

S: Well, instead of taking down another building and then re-building another building we try to restore the existing building. We can’t do that every time but we try as much as we can to do that.

J: Why do you think it is important to be conscientious about conservation in your business?

S: To save energy in as many ways as possible is important. For example we try to be green by recycling paper and using energy efficient lighting to save money and energy. Our own office building provides another example of why we try to be conscientious to nature. If we tore down this building the office roof alone has about 20,000 square feet of lumber on it. It we rebuilt, we’d have to use that same amount of lumber to replace our roof. By doing that there would have to be lots of trees cut down. These trees are home to thousands of organisms and animals – so we wouldn’t be doing them any favors by rebuilding, would we? It’s best to try to keep what is already existing so we save the materials that are already used and do not deplete natural resources for more.

J: Can you explain one specific example of the things do you do in your business to be Earth friendly?

S: When we design a building we try to get materials that are within 500 miles of our location. We try not to go someplace like China to get materials. This method saves gas (because of less travel), and that also helps keep the carbon emissions down for cleaner air because we used things in close proximity. It also helps our economy because we keep business within our states.

J: What are some of the different types of earth friendly projects you have worked on?

S: Sherwin Williams and Quorum work together to build their first Leaders in Energy Environmental Design (L.E.E.D.). This is a rating system for earth-friendly buildings. We designed the first L.E.E.D. project which used less energy to build and to run.

J: Have you worked on any conservation projects that have affected animals? What were they?

S: We have done numerous animal adoption centers where natural light is allowed into the space. There is fresh air and a small outdoor area where dogs and other animals can stretch. There are no toxic or unhealthy paints on the wall. We also used recycled steel to make the animal cages!

J: What is your main goal with conservation and architecture?

S:As our architectural footprint grows we try to make a smaller carbon footprint.

Scott Wilson of Quorum Architects keeps nature in mind when he designs.

Thanks Scott. I’m glad you’re serious about conservation in the things we build.