Our Firm's Ethos

Since our founding, Landis Architect/Builders has always been focused on sustainability, historic preservation, and giving back to our local community. We believe that we must all do our part to make the world, and our communities better, safer, and healthier. As a Design + Build firm, we consider our work to be impactful in this way for both our clients and the communities in which they live. We recognize however, that our impact must reach beyond our core business. Landis is committed to building a better future in several different ways. Our founders have donated their time and expertise to the District, serving on the Mayor’s Green Building Advisory Council, The DC Construction Codes Coordinating Board, and the DC Historic Preservation Review Board. Additionality, from the board room to the front lines, our founders are involved with several local charities. Beyond this, our firm supports a handful of Local, National, and International charities.

Green Practices in Projects

Throughout our design and construction process, we work to promote sustainability wherever we can. Much of our focus is on materials, processes, and sourcing locally. We standardly recommend spray foam insulation, which helps your home retain its heat and reduces energy consumption. We use local suppliers whenever possible, and try to schedule our production team to projects close to their homes, reducing carbon emissions from travel. Our industry continues to increase material recycling, uses digital solutions when possible, and focuses on efficacy for sustainable materials and technologies, but there is still more to do. We constantly seek to improve our practices to build a sustainable future.

Greening Our Offices

When we built our offices in 2007, we wanted to showcase sustainable design and construction. We installed a photovoltaic solar array on our roof, and a geothermal conditioning system that draws heat from the ground 60 feet below our building. These systems provide most of our electrical and HVAC needs throughout the year. Additionally, we used sustainable materials whenever possible, such as bamboo flooring, energy-efficient LED light bulbs, and Energy Star appliances. Finally, we designed our office with skylights to maximize natural light, reducing our dependence on illumination with light fixtures. As our firm grows and the science and technology of sustainability improves, we are determined to keep pace by changing and improving our office space and our best practices to reduce our carbon footprint.

We support these charities in building a better future

Rock Creek Conservancy

Rock Creek Conservancy exists to restore Rock Creek and its parklands as a natural oasis for all people to appreciate and protect.

 

 

 


Rebuilding Together

At Rebuilding Together, we make essential repairs to help our neighbors stay in their homes. Our work often goes beyond each home. Local affiliates who are rooted in the community work closely with community residents and leaders to revitalize our communities. Together, we create and execute plans to address some of the needs of each specific community. Through our work, we are also positioned to also address the long-term recovery of communities struck by natural disasters. We commit to our neighbors in need and help them rebuild in the months and years following a disaster.

 


The Potomac Riverkeeper Network

Our mission is to protect the public’s right to clean water in the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and their tributaries. We stop pollution to enhance the safety of our drinking water, protect healthy river habitats, and enhance public use and enjoyment.

 

 


One Tree Planted

As an environmental charity, we are dedicated to making it easier for individuals and businesses to give back to the environment, create a healthier climate, protect biodiversity and help reforestation efforts around the world. All by planting trees!

 

 


The Equal Justice Initiative

The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

 

 


The Nature Conservancy

Founded at its grassroots in the United States in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has grown to become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than a million members and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and more than 400 scientists, we impact conservation in 79 countries and territories across six continents.