Texas 2010 design rank: No 55
Green rank: No. 23
“We’re in a down economy, and sustainability is still in demand,” says Edgar Farrera, LEED AP, director of sustainability at Marmon Mok, founded in 1953 and focusing on education, health care and public projects. “Clients and owners are educated about this topic. They see it deals with bottom-line issues and environmental ones.”
Farrera expects green building will become standard practice and be part of building codes. Recognizing that, the firm has invested in educating its professional staff about LEED, and about half of the professional staff have received accreditation. It has presented workshops for contractors and owners, knowing that greater understanding would foster interest.
“Our key to success is we first realized we had to educate ourselves and then to educate clients, contractors and consultants we work with,” says Steve Souter, Marmon Mok managing partner. “Our firm got involved in sustainability early on. Since we do so much public work, being good stewards of public funds has always been important.”
Farrera adds that building information modeling has helped it leverage technology to design better, more sustainable buildings and has proven beneficial in conducting energy analyses.
Marmon Mok designed the $4.5-million, planned LEED silver Parman Branch Library at Stone Oak for the city of San Antonio and the $4.1-million Trinity University Miller Residence Hall Renovation, expected to receive LEED-gold certification. The Trinity certification was accomplished without adding any money to the original construction budget.
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