ABA’s practice which centers around four primary market sectors: residential, community, education, and health and wellness, is grounded in a much broader definition of client; meaning that of designing for ‘Sustainable Communities’. ABA’s 25-year commitment to sustainability was initially centered on passive elements, including siting and natural daylighting. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, ABA
’s sustainability focus sharpened, through an academic and grassroots approach, together with staff leadership in national and regional organizations, such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) and the U.S. ABA Principal Brad Cox became the Founding Chair of Santa Clara County AIA’s COTE, and an early adopter of the pilot LEED rating system. With a solid grounding in the sustainable design of buildings and sites, ABA formalized what has always been the foundation of our markets: Sustainable Communities - extending the definition of green and broadening our definition of ‘client‘. We are committed to sustaining communities and individuals by providing our clients with an awareness of the impact of design to create enduring solutions that balance their specific needs. At the heart of our Sustainable Communities model is the premise that all situations are unique, and that each situation deserves and requires the specific attention to its context: site, environment, historic, programmatic, business, emotional and spiritual context. ABA’s future in sustainability will see us further exploring the built environment, through design and operations. We believe that carbon neutrality and even regenerative systems will be keys to our role in supporting and leading the green movement in our industry. We will continue to create and refine the tools necessary to assist our clients, inspiring their decisions toward more environmentally appropriate solutions; through virtual modeling, research, design and collaboration. It is on the basis of our commitment to designing sustainable communities that we focus our marketing efforts on the following community sectors.
