Green Building

At Spears Horn Architects, we strive not only to craft meaningful places, but also connections to the larger context of the world in which we live. As we seek to relate a building to its surroundings through daylighting and connections to outdoor spaces, we also endeavor to bring people closer to the natural environment through the creation of sustainable buildings and places that respect that environment. Integral to this goal is the creation of places that are healthy for their occupants.

We seek a holistic approach to green building, looking at all aspects of the project, from water catchment and re-use in our arid climate, to energy conservation, to our choice of sustainable materials such as adobe, strawbale, and Rastra (a composite structural block material made of recycled styrofoam and concrete).

We regularly build with adobe, and we have championed straw bale construction since 1992, helping establish and direct the New Mexico Straw Bale Construction Association, and taking an active role in testing, codifying and establishing procedures for State permitting of straw-bale structures. We have participated in straw bale workshops, have designed three straw bale house projects, and consulted on two other house projects.

In addition to adobe and straw bale, we have also completed many cast pumice and Rastra (a composite structural block material made of recycled styrofoam and concrete) projects. When using wood we seek to use sustainable woods and engineered wood products such as parallams that help to decrease the demand for large and old-growth structural members. Other non-structural alternative materials that we have used include mud plasters and adobe floors.

Our work with chemically sensitive clients, volunteer work in the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and our implementation of the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system are just a few of the ways we integrate these ideals into the practice of architecture.