At FINNE Architects, we have been practicing sustainable design for over twenty years. We are members of the Cascadia Green Building Council and we are LEED certified. Every project is designed to fit to the site in a sensitive manner, to conserve resources by using passive heating and cooling, to maximize the use of natural light, and to employ sustainable building materials. We also promote a philosophy of building smaller homes, but with a focus on quality, rather than large homes with no real character. Smaller homes are more sustainable, and we also promote local suppliers of major building materials such as window, siding, roofing, etc. Another important part of our practice is the attention to detailing and craftsmanship in our projects. Our passion for craft and detailing results in construction that is extremely durable and materials are protected for a long life-cycle.

All of our projects use “passive” ideas such as highly insulated building envelopes, thermal mass floors, large roof overhangs and large amounts of natural light and ventilation. We also use “active” systems such as drilled wells for groundsource heat exchangers, hydronic solar panels for domestic hot water, and photo voltaic panels for electricity pro duction.

Sustainable design is not simply creating a laundry-list of green materials; rather, it is creating enduring building form and construction with appropriate long life-cycle, low-energy consuming materials.