Movies have the Golden Globes and sustainability projects have the Green Globes. Two facilities designed by Hoefer Welker in partnership with USFP (U.S. Federal Properties) have achieved two Green Globes certificates for new construction. The two projects – located in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Lubbock, Texas – are Community-Based Outpatient Clinics for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The certified facility in Chattanooga will be a 95,000-square-foot veterans outpatient clinic situated on more than 17 acres and is prioritized as a sustainable design in several areas, including daylighting features, Green Globes-standard air ventilation, moisture and mold mitigation strategies, and an overall focus on health and wellness throughout the building. During the construction process, the Hoefer Welker team also enlisted a specialist to relocate an on-site colony of more than 200,000 bees rather than exterminate them.
Hoefer Welker has focused more and more on sustainability in its design work since, in 2020, colleagues passionate about sustainability spearheaded a “grassroots effort” for a sustainability initiative within the firm, including creating a sustainability specialist position. This new role opened the door to a centralized process for formalizing sustainability policy at Hoefer Welker, from employee education initiatives to standardizing green certification practices.