How to Select a Green Architect

Selecting a green architect is no easy task. You need to be weary of inexperienced contractors who may want to take you for a ride and will create a ton of needless obstacles for you during your project. By selecting the proper architect for your green project, you’ll rest assured they will build the essentials needed to ensure you have every element successfully fulfilled for the best green living.

How to Select a Green Architect

Conventional building need not apply…

Green building is the least conventional style available today. Not only does it integrate features you may have never thought of, but it will require your immediate attention to many facets of the project that you may not encounter with traditional building practices. While you may be spending more up front for an investment, you will reap the benefits of a green dwelling for years to come by just doing a bit of homework before diving in to the project. First, search the web for LEED certified builders as well as creating search for green architects in or near your zip code. You can search the EcoBuilding Guild for these architects as well as research them on your own. You may want to take a few classes of your own so you’re able to talk with the architect about the project.

Compare the Cost

When searching for a green architect, ask many questions about the project. Ask about the utilization of energy efficient products, salvaged materials and reuse of land materials that will be extracted during the demolition. Find an architect that has a focus that aligns with your own whether it is strictly on building with green materials, or healthy building and living in general.

Experience is key…

Once you’ve decided on a few architects you would like to receive quotes from, make sure you interview them. Ask about their experience with green building-have them show you their portfolio. Make sure your architect is enduring continuing education, as this aspect of the construction industry is on the boom and new products (as well as issues) arise each day. Ask about the disposal of waste, and the health and safety of the workers who will be completing your project.

Green Contracting

After you’ve decided on the green architect you will be using, make sure you have the specifications down to a science. Keep an open line of communication, as your architect may need to ask you questions on the spot, or when making a decision on your behalf. Create the specs that you will accept, everything from how you would like the paint applied, to materials that are unacceptable. Once you’ve established the fundamentals with your architect, you’ll be creating a green project that will outlast and out energize any standard project of today.