We begin each project with a discussion about high performance goals

Using the AIA Framework for Design Excellence as a starting point, we begin each project with an internal kick-off session to explore and set high-performance design goals. By the time we have our kick-off meeting with the client, we are prepared to demonstrate which sustainability goals should and can be achieved.

We identify key performance targets early and assign responsibilities for tracking them throughout design and construction. We integrate analysis into the design process from day one, using models to create a feedback loop between design studies and predicted performance outcomes.

2 AIA COTE Top Ten Awards

MSR Design has received two prestigious national AIA COTE Top Ten Awards, one for RIDC’s Mill 19 development and one for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center. Each year, AIA recognizes ten innovative projects that integrate design excellence with environmental performance by meeting COTE’s rigorous criteria for ten measures, design for integration, equitable communities, ecosystems, water, economy, energy, well-being, resources, change, and discovery.

29 LEED certified projects

MSR Design has worked on 29 projects that have received LEED certifications, including a LEED Residential Single Family Homes v.4.1 Platinum certification for the first of the GAP School Page Street Houses and LEED-NC v.3 Platinum certifications for Olbrich Botanical Garden’s new Frautschi Family Learning Center and the Madison Municipal Building renovation, both projects for the City of Madison. 

We support a culture of sharing knowledge

Recognizing that the architecture profession must evolve quickly to create a more sustainable building industry, we share our research and design innovations. Recent publicly available tools include:

  • MSR Design Sustainable Materials Action Packet: a guideline for screening sustainable and healthy materials for our materials library, along with resources for different phases of project delivery.
  • MSR Design Sustainability Tracker: a sustainability tracking tool and visual template for use in project drawing sets to convey performance intent in a standardized way.
  • MSR Design Embodied Carbon in Commercial Furniture: a new research report that introduces a case study and the embodied carbon in furniture calculator tool, as well as offering new baselines for measuring the carbon footprint of commercial furniture.
  • METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit for Interior Design: MSR Design was one of 13 design firms invited to participate in developing the METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit for Interior Design. The toolkit is one of the first to provide sustainable design guidance targeted specifically to interior design.