Emersion Design emerging

A relative newcomer to the architecture and design field, Norwood’s Emersion Design has been recognized with three awards for its work in sustainable design at the 2008 Cincinnati Design Awards.

Perhaps the most exciting is the IIDA Honor Award for Built Work, recognizing their 1,700-square-foot collaborative workspace currently under review by the U.S. Green Building Council for LEED for Commercial Interiors Platinum certification.

Chad Edwards, architect and urban designer, says that only two other firms in the country have headquarters certified LEED Platinum (New York and Seattle), and no other architecture and engineering firm in the nation has achieved it.

The building is situated in a walkable neighborhood and uses lumber mill waste, bamboo, and glass walls reclaimed from a job at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana.

Emersion even has its own on-site worm farm.

"We selected the building for financial reasons, but also because it fit into the structure of LEED and what it tries to do," Edwards says.

The entire construction project produced just 12 pounds of waste.

"This is our home, and the CDA recognized that," says Nikki Marksberry, who heads business development.  "It's very exciting for us to design the same space in which we spend so much time.  It's really a treat."

In just 16 months, Emersion has expanded from four principals to 18 full-time employees.

The firm has also reached 165 percent of its 2008 sales goal, or approximately what they were hoping to achieve in 2009.

"It was very humbling on awards night," Edwards says.  "It was our first year of submissions for the awards, and we won the most.”

The other awards included AIA Honorable Mentions for Architectural Advancement for Greening Over-the-Rhine, a study conducted by several groups that showed that LEED and historic preservation standards and tax incentives can be applied to the historic neighborhood; and for a LE3D Social Sustainability Rating System that will be integrated into the next generation of LEED standards.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Sources: Chad Edwards, architectural/urban designer, Emersion Design; Nikki Marksberry, business development, Emersion Design
Photograph provided by Emersion Design