25 Years of Success
Delivering Ultra Energy-Efficient Buildings at No Extra Cost
We’ve learned a lot in 25 years as a client-centered firm focused on designing zero energy and ultra-efficient buildings at no extra cost. We know how to actually get things built in today’s regulatory environment. Our clients have trusted us to introduce innovative systems and local, sustainable materials like straw bale into civic, commercial and residential buildings. We’re grateful for our team, which is diverse, technically-skilled, and problem-solving.
Nature-based Design
We design buildings that passively and actively extract energy from their immediate surroundings — natural light and warmth from the sun; natural ventilation; cooling from shade and cold night sky; energy-absorbing qualities of water and mass; geothermal energy.
As human beings, we are part of nature. Our bodies are attuned to see better in natural light, remain alert breathing fresh air, and feel better when we can collaborate with members of our community and have access to outdoor space. Buildings designed with these outcomes in mind are also more resilient to our changing climate and the challenges it poses. Such buildings are both adaptive to the realities of climate change and help mitigate it by using dramatically less energy. They harness energy from the sun, earth and air around them.
California’s Executive Order B-18-12 mandates that all new state buildings be designed to consume Zero Net Energy (ZNE) by 2025. This means that all buildings will need to be designed to use no more energy than they produce over the course of a year. Today, buildings account for 39% of carbon emissions in the US. ZNE buildings, on the other hand, passively draw energy from the environment and collect any extra energy they require from photovoltaics.
The beauty of passive design is that it works with nature instead of against it, making it possible for us to design beautiful buildings that improve people’s quality of life, work and learning without contributing to climate change. Using these principles, we are able to design buildings that are pleasing, functional and affordable.
When you work with Indigo, you not only get many decades of leadership in sustainable design, you also get the focus and collaborative spirit of our team. Every project we take on benefits from the experience and creativity of our principals as well as the enthusiasm of our staff. We look forward to working with you to make the built environment better.
