Brief Description

Re:Vision Architecture (RVA) is a long-term "project" of founders Scott Kelly and Jennifer Rezeli, along with an interdisciplinary team of committed sustainability experts: Bill Craig (architect), Mike Cronomiz (architect), Michelle Robinson (civil engineer), Brett Duncan (industrial designer), Alexandra Vondeling (architect), and Justin Weisser (architect). The goal of the project is to re-vision and restore the balance between natural and built environments. Recognizing that time is of the essence when it comes to environmental issues such as climate change and social issues related to poverty, RVA focuses on making immediate, substantive changes to the built environment through green development projects. With development consuming 40% of the land, water, energy, and raw materials used globally, buildings present the single largest opportunity for changing the sustainability equation. To widely disseminate green building knowledge and impact as many projects as possible, RVA mentors and collaborates with dozens of architecture, engineering, development, and non-profit organizations each year to apply high-level green design principles and secure additional resources for green strategies and technologies. For green building projects that innovate beyond standards methods and technologies, RVA provides complete architectural design services. RVA is structured as a for-profit corporation and demonstrates that mission-driven businesses can be effective change agents. When determining profit-sharing distributions, one of the firm's key criteria is "eco-awesomeness" in order to tie financial success to environmental success. RVA's rate structure is also deeply discounted for brownfield and infill projects in order to encourage sustainable development. Since RVA's start, advocacy has been an essential part of the firm's work and staff members contribute their time through leadership roles in various organizations that support the firm's mission, such as, the Delaware Valley Green Building Council and the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia.

Sustainability Narrative

Since the firm was founded in 2002, RVA has played a leading role in many sustainability firsts: the first LEED-NC project in the Delaware Valley (W.S. Cumby Headquarters in Springfield, PA); the first LEED-Homes projects in the state (two zero-energy homes for Jackie O'Neil in Schwenksville, PA); the first LEED-Platinum project in the state (One Crescent Drive at the Navy Yard). Architecturally, each of RVA's projects is designed to create a unique statement of possibility about development that takes less from the planet and gives more to people—more daylight, fresh air, comfort, and joy. RVA's favorite projects are those that blend age-old sustainability strategies (like passive solar design) with innovative technologies that often require education at the state and local level. For example, RVA provided technical support for Liberty Property Trust's well-publicized efforts to install waterless urinals at One Crescent Drive and the Comcast Towers. Similarly, RVA worked with state and local code officials to allow straw bale construction in Aerzen's US headquarters in Coatesville, PA; straw bale construction is particularly exciting because it creates an exceptionally energy efficient building envelope, sequesters CO2, and supports Pennsylvania's farmers. Time and again, RVA has taken on controversial (and time-consuming) issues in order to systematically remove barriers to green building. Among their colleagues in the design and construction field, RVA has made the uncommon commitment to collaborate and openly share information about sustainable design.

Impact

RVA's impact can be measured in several key areas:

a. Education: RVA averages one high-level lecture per week about green development practices. Some of the presentations are made to large groups of interested citizens, like the Urban Sustainability Forum, and some are intimate gatherings with design and development professionals, such as Liberty Property Trust and The Hankin Group. It is estimated that RVA provides well over 1,000 individuals each year with substantive green building information. Over the past year, some of the conferences and groups to which RVA has presented include: Habitat for Humanity, Greenbuild, GlobalCon, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, Liberty Property Trust, and Design on the Delaware. RVA focuses their educational lectures on understanding the big picture Sustainability issues of climate change, biodiversity, and social inequity within the context of human development. All presentations include practical information about actions that the audience can take to contribute a more sustainable community.

b. Professional Training: RVA staff co-chair the AIA Committee on the Environment and the DVGBC Educational Programs Committee to reach design and development professionals. RVA staff members also provide training to educate contractors about green building and help them to become certified through the Green Advantage program which RVA helped to design. c. Environmental Protection: Through RVA's architectural and consulting work, the firm has completed four LEED-certified projects in the Delaware Valley region, including two gold-level projects and one platinum project. Expected shortly is another platinum rating for Armstrong World Industries' LEED-Existing Building project. RVA has 50 LEED projects in the pipeline, including: Lower Bucks YMCA, 3020 Market Street Office Building, Mercy Neighborhood Ministries Community Center, Pennswood Village, and Overbrook School for the Blind. As an example of the impact of one of these LEED projects, One Crescent Drive at the Navy Yard, an 84,000 sf speculative office building, meets the following metrics:

• Conserves 200,000 gallons of potable water each year
• Uses 36% less energy than a comparable office building
• 100% of the energy used in the core building functions comes from wind power
• 60% of the materials budget within 150 miles of the site
• 45% of material in the budget comes from non-virgin sources
• CO2 emissions from concrete were reduced by 40% by using a blend of Portland cement and local slag. This strategy is particularly important because concrete currently generates 6%-7% of global CO2 emissions
• Sorted 130 tons of construction materials for recycling, including scrap metals, wood, gypsum wallboard, cardboard, asphalt and concrete.

d. Economic Development: By guiding building owners to purchase local services related to green building (such as commissioning, energy modeling, and green cleaning), RVA is supporting the development of a local businesses that are capable of providing all of the services needed for high-level Sustainability projects—from concept through post-occupancy. Similarly, RVA strongly prefers the specification of materials that are produced locally and the purchasing of renewable energy from within the state.