Have you ever walked into a room or walked past a building and just something about it felt right or looked right? That’s probably because it is proportioned well; following rules set out by ancient Greek and Roman architects and based on the human body.

Back in November 2009, we were nothing more than a few people around a table in Paul Dowsett’s dining room. We had no formal office space, but we did have a dream. A dream of making sustainability mainstream. 7 years later, as the NOW Magazine People’s Choice winner for Best Design Firm, we have achieved that goal, and validated our efforts as leaders of sustainability.

Be it hurricane, ice storm, flood, or wildfire, there are few greater threats to a community than natural disaster. The design and planning of our cities and economies must be able to respond to disaster, bounce back, resume operation, and be a catalyst for redevelopment — all in addition to being safe havens for their residents.

Sustainable is literally pushing the building envelope. Proposing a forward-thinking, environmentally responsible, and energy-efficient wall assembly that improves the durability of your home to ensure improved occupant health and comfort.

Sustainable is proud to be leading the design for this game-changing facility — the 1st in Canada, and only the 9th in the world!

Smart thermostats do not change the amount of energy your home needs to stay warm/cool. They restrict the amount of time your furnace is on. This conserves energy, but usually results in user discomfort – like if your thermostat thinks you are at work, but you stay home sick, or it’s a holiday Monday.

Since opening up shop in Toronto’s east end in 2009, Sustainable has jumped leaps and bounds towards establishing the new normal for how we think about building in a post-carbon world. In 2002, leading American architect Ed Mazria founded Architecture 2030, an organization committed to protecting our global environment by using innovation and common sense to develop and implement bold solutions to global warming. Mazria developed energy-reduction targets for buildings leading up to 2030 as a Challenge.

We see communities changing around us every day, and the importance of architects in this process is increasing at a steady pace just the same. Perhaps not in the way our parents may have imagined, but in a much broader context. Sustainable, along with many partners, has been working to help define this role and how it can impact communities with more than just the physical spaces we create

From November 16, 2015 to January 10th, 2016, the residential work of Sustainable will be a feature of the At-Home Exhibit in Cambridge, Ontario put on by Art + Design Idea Exchange. The displayed works focus on homes capable of withstanding natural disasters, energy-efficient homes, off-grid homes, and new concepts for shared living and working spaces. As frontrunners in sustainable and resilient design, Sustainable’s projects are front and centre at the exhibit, taking place at the University of Waterloo Architecture Building.