Farewell to Bill – by Brian Carleton

Twenty six years ago, Bill and I decided to follow through on a vision that had been burning in our hearts for a while – to start our own firm. We shared a strong sense that with the right focus and dedication, our work could have a meaningful impact on the lives of the people who lived or worked in the buildings that we designed. We also knew that our work could help build stronger communities. From that sense of purpose, we embarked on an amazing adventure together.

Bill not only mentored and inspired staff, he also was a teacher and a mentor to me over the years. He taught me how to ask questions, how to listen with an open mind, how to get to the heart of the matter. Bill has inspired my work throughout our partnership, and I imagine he will continue to inspire me as he moves into the next phase of his personal adventure. His ability to get to the essence of the grand vision and the desire to partner with community builders are all leading Bill in new directions. As he pursues his new endeavors in development and consulting, I’m sure that underlying his work will be that same dedication to the empowerment of the people his projects will touch and the well-being of the communities in which he will be immersed.

I’m so proud of what we started together. The firm has never been better. In recent years, Michelle Black and Corey Morris joined our Leadership Team, and we are continuing to live our mission every day and look to the future. Our projects are strengthening the fabric of our community, bringing housing that is affordable and vibrant to neighborhoods throughout the Portland Metro Region and beyond. We’re doing what we set out to do. Thank you, Bill! We’ll miss you!

Honoring Veterans Day

Carleton Hart Architecture recently completed the renovation of three properties, in Southern Oregon, owned and operated by Catholic Charities’ dedicated housing entity, Caritas Housing: Woodville Village, Valerie Hill Apartments, and Hillside Village (see links at the bottom of this page). Caritas Housing works to acquire, develop, rehabilitate, and manage permanent affordable housing across Oregon. To date, Caritas Housing has created more than 800 units of affordable housing for more than 1,900 individuals across Western Oregon. For more on Caritas Housing, visit https://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/services/housing-services/caritas-housing/

Carleton Hart Architecture’s work is community-based and people-oriented, so we always look for opportunities to engage with residents and hear their stories. For Veteran’s Day, we are happy to share this story of a very special resident who is also a Veteran. 

Dennis’s Story
It’s easy to talk to Dennis. He’s laid back, and an hour spent in his company slips by very quickly.  Dennis grew up in Sacramento, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1975. Basic training was a breeze for Dennis, “I sometimes wondered if I should have joined the Marines or the Army for more of a challenge,” he laughs. But he doesn’t regret his choice to join the Air Force because of the educational opportunities available to him. After basic training, his first job was refueling aircraft (first in Idaho and then in California), but after going to school for communications, he started his career in telecommunications. “That was very challenging,” he says reflecting on the experience. But he follows that up quickly by saying that school was his most interesting and rewarding experience in the service.

After school, Dennis was transferred to Florida where, despite his misgivings about the humidity, he put in three years in The Sunshine State. He never did get used to the humidity though, “After three years of that,” he says, “I decided it was time to maybe go visit Europe.” So, he put in for a transfer, packed up his family, and soon found himself stationed in Athens, Greece. Eager to explore Athens and absorb all he could of its history and culture, he enjoyed exploring the ruins and developed a love of Greek cuisine. Photography became a passion as he documented his adventures in Athens.  Dennis notes that he didn’t even take that much leave because he was so busy between work and driving around to see the sites, “I felt like I was on a vacation, as it was.”

Those were exciting times, and Dennis loved sharing his travels with his wife and daughter. He admits that it was hard on them, but also that his intention was to give them a unique and special life experience. When he did take leave, it was for his family, taking his daughter all the way to Germany to see a hearing specialist at the hospital on the military base there. 

While in Greece, Dennis was eager to engage with the locals, driven by his interest in learning about the history and culture of his new post. He enjoyed talking with many of the locals. “I got along great with the older people.” He explains, “The older people appreciated us because we put a lot of money into their country…we rebuilt their roads and highways.”  Conversely, he also remembers experiencing some prejudice from others who felt some distrust towards Americans. 

After 11 years of service, Dennis had reached the rank of E-4 Buck Sergeant, but it was time for a change. He went on to work in telecommunications as a civilian. Looking back, he misses the travel. “I love to travel,” he says while describing all the places he visited while in the service --from Dover, Delaware to Hawaii. Returning home to Sacramento was hard, he didn’t even have a car to drive to job interviews, and he found that he didn’t care much for the civilian sector, “Too many people and not enough jobs,” he says with a sigh. A sentiment to which most of us can relate. 

Looking back on the people he served with, he remembers the fun of running into friends halfway around the world. “It seemed like it was a small world,” Dennis recalls, “In the service you meet somebody somewhere and you might meet them years down the road somewhere else. It did feel like a small world. It was pleasurable.” And that sense of comradery and teamwork he enjoyed with fellow service members is something he still misses. Comparing military service with civilian life, Dennis describes how in “most civilian jobs, people are out for themselves; [they] take care [of themselves] and support their family, but as far as teamwork it seems to lack that.”

Dennis is grateful for his time in the service and feels it had a positive impact on his life, saying “It kept me standing up like a man,” and he feels it helped keep him on the straight and narrow. He touches upon some of the struggles in life, but points out how his military background put him in good stead.

In 2006, some years after moving to Oregon, Dennis was in a terrible car crash that broke his legs and left him in a coma. “It turned out all right,” he’s quick to add, “they put bars and screws in [my legs]. [They] worked on my legs first and then they worked on the rest of my body.”  All his years of discipline served him well in the difficult recovery that followed. Now, he walks a mile or two every day to keep active, so he won’t lose use of his legs.  

We can all learn a lot from Dennis. From his openness to try new things (he taught himself how to paint his own car!), to his adventurous spirit and eagerness to learn from and embrace new cultures.  If you’re ever in Rogue River, maybe you’ll by lucky enough to cross paths with Dennis. Like he said, it’s a small world. And if you do meet him, be sure to thank him for his service. 

To learn more about to Catholic Charities Properties in Southern Oregon, please visit the following:

Woodville Village Apartments:
https://www.cascade-management.com/property/woodville-village/details

Valerie Hill Apartments:
https://www.cascade-management.com/property/valerie-hills-apartments/details

Hillside Village Apartments:
https://www.cascade-management.com/property/hillside-village/details

A Look Into Embodied Carbon

According to Architecture 2030, “embodied Carbon will be responsible for almost half of total new construction emissions between now and 2050.” During the previous two decades, sustainable certification programs have focused on sustainability initiatives that analyze and reduce operational energy of new buildings. In more recent years, we have come to understand that we are missing half of the puzzle in our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: that of embodied carbon.

Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a material from its extraction through its lifespan. We have learned the significance of embodied carbon on our environment, such as increased respiratory illnesses, aquatic ecosystem damage, and forest decline, and the critical role the Architecture/Engineering/Construction community plays in reducing energy use and the large-scale environmental impacts of carbon.

As part of CHA’s Innovation Lab, an in-house research grant program, we explored lifecycle assessment (LCA) tools and documented the impact of embodied carbon from a sampling of our completed projects by examining building assemblies and specifications. Using a software called TALLY, a lifecycle assessment tool developed by Kieran Timberlake, we assessed carbon impacts and looked at how this tool can be used within CHA’s project workflow. We compared typical material assemblies to study and analyze the scale of impact our buildings have on the environment. Through this process, we were able to synthesize design opportunities and best practices to better inform project material selection. A tutorial of the TALLY plug-in was also developed to make the tool more accessible for the office. 

During our research, we also identified various strategies to reduce the embodied carbon impact during project design phases, which include the following.

1. Coordination items with consultants – how to optimize the structural system.

2. Selection of materials with low-carbon properties - such as mineral wool, blown-in insulation, and wood.

3. Determining what product certifications to look for when selecting materials. 

Architects play a significant role in shaping the environment through our choices. The decisions we make daily have larger affects beyond the building itself. Embodied carbon is currently seen through secondary impacts that are changing our urban and rural environments.  As architects and designers, we must be intentional in our selection of low-carbon products and be aware of the carbon footprint of individual materials we specify. In doing so, we can mitigate and reduce embodied carbon emissions and lower the overall carbon footprint of each building.

Kayla Zander, Project Designer & Julia Mollner, Project Architect

Carleton Hart Becomes a B Corp™

Carleton Hart is now a Certified B Corporation®!  B Corps™ represent 3,422 companies in 150 industries throughout 71 countries. We are very excited to join this global community of for-profit businesses dedicated to building a more inclusive and sustainable economy.  Last year marked our 25th anniversary as a firm, and as we reflected on how much we had grown over the years we also saw an opportunity to reassess and reaffirm that we are still living our values.

The B Corp™ certification process is a comprehensive deep dive into the operations of a business. Reporting on various categories that include Governance, Workers, Community, and Environment gauges where a company stands in terms of their social and environmental impact. This lengthy vetting process is administered by B Lab, a third-party non-profit organization that evaluates how companies contribute to social good and go beyond financial interest.  The initial assessment in November 2019 showed that we did indeed qualify to become a B Corp™, but we didn’t stop there. It wasn’t enough to qualify, we wanted to challenge ourselves to do better and grow, which is exactly what we did, increasing our score by more than 14 points in the process.

Carleton Hart joins 24 other U.S. architecture firms who are Certified B Corporations®. We are the second architecture firm in Portland to attain this certification and the first to score above 100 points (CHA is 104.2).  But while this is exciting, it really isn’t about the number. We did this because it’s the right thing to do. We care deeply about CHA’s impact on the community, and we believe that it is important to speak out about our social and environmental responsibility. There’s a benefit to saying to the world that these things matter and challenge others in the industry to do things better too.

Material Health and COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced a paradigm shift in how we approach design. As we come to terms with the pandemic and its inevitable influence on the built environment, we see a shift in priorities towards materials that are not only healthy but will help limit contagion. At Carleton Hart, we focus on material health in all our projects, but now more than ever, we need to be vigilant of a trend we are coining “cleanwashing.”

In our industry, we are all familiar with the practice of greenwashing - a term used to describe when a product is unfairly marketed as having sustainable attributes. Such claims are not backed up with science or facts and offer false comfort to consumers who believe the product is benefiting the environment in some way or is more sustainable than other comparable products.

Similar to greenwashing, we foresee a flood of products emerging that will target the design and building industry claiming to fight bacteria and viruses. Product manufacturers are already working to develop, chemically change, and market new and existing products. Some will have substantiated antimicrobial qualities, but caution is needed to properly assess the claims associated with them and their inherent risk to human health and the environment.

“Antimicrobial” is a familiar term in relation to interior building materials. An antimicrobial is an attribute of a material, natural, or synthetic that disrupts the growth of microorganisms which can include bacteria, fungi, and viruses. In the world of architecture, this term is used particularly in relation to surfaces that are considered “high-touch” in a building’s interior. The most common examples of these are counter tops, plumbing fixtures, and door hardware.

It is important to note that some materials are naturally and inherently antimicrobial; copper, brass, bronze, and copper-nickel are some common examples. When cleaned regularly, products manufactured from these materials will naturally kill bacteria that cause infections.

However, unlike the materials just described, some synthetic materials that are advertised as antimicrobial are the materials to which we need to pay special attention. Chemicals are often added to the manufacturing process of these materials and products to give them the antimicrobial characteristic. Often the chemicals that are added are harmful to human health. Some are carcinogens while others are associated with hormone disruption and reproductive and developmental impacts. Furthermore, human epidemiological studies have shown that some antimicrobial chemicals cause skin irritation, asthma, and allergies.

There are also environmental ramifications to the use of antimicrobials. Antimicrobial chemicals and coatings in building products wear off over time. Depending on the application these can be washed off or worn off by friction and suspended in the air in particles. Antimicrobials can be traced in the environment into waterways which affect aquatic ecosystems and can ultimately mean that they make their way into drinking water and into food for animal and human consumption.

Understanding how harmful these antimicrobials can be, it is a question why we would knowingly add these to the environment. The Center for Disease Control has concluded that even in hospitals, “no evidence is available to suggest that use of these [marketed antimicrobial] products will make consumers and patients healthier or prevent disease. No data support[s] the use of these items as part of a sound infection-control strategy.” (https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/environmental/background/laundry.html) Additionally, there is evidence in hospital settings that antimicrobials can increase the risk of antibiotic-resistant organisms and contribute to the development of super-bugs.

Caution needs to be exercised around health claims made by product manufacturers. These claims cannot be taken at face value. We encourage designers to ask questions and seek disclosed ingredient lists for any product that we consider for our projects. With this information in hand, we can research the health and environmental impact of each ingredient. However, a simple rule can also be followed: Avoid the use of any product that is marketed with a health claim related to antimicrobials.

As we navigate a post COVID-19 world, it’s natural to feel uncertain in what is evolving as our new normal. However, a certainty we are aware of is that as architects and designers, we have a responsibility to a standard of care. To this end, we seek to educate our staff and our clients about material health in the built environment.

Kim Stanley, Interior Designer

A Call for Positive Change.

We stand in solidarity with those who are outraged and saddened over the senseless murder of George Floyd. We must work together to dismantle the systemic and persistent racism that pervades our society and allows a growing list of lives to be lost to hate. As architects who are committed to designing healthy and safe places which strengthen the bonds between people, we have a responsibility to speak out in support of social justice and equality.

Carleton Hart was founded on the desire to make a positive impact on our community, and our work in affordable housing design originated from this early vision. Through our work, we see firsthand how communities of color face barriers to housing security, safe neighborhoods, and economic opportunity. The horrific killing in Minneapolis shines light on the systemic racism that runs deep throughout our country, a destructive and pervasive force that must be stopped. As we condemn these acts of discrimination, we reaffirm our commitment to push for new ways to fight racism in all its forms.

It is plain to see that what has been done in the past is not enough. What is needed now is a change in our understanding of ourselves and our understanding of each other. We must be willing to see our own ingrained biases, and we must acknowledge that they affect our work. We must each strive for empathy, unbiased respect, and truly equitable relationships. It is only from that starting point that we will be able to build healthy communities where all members are able to thrive.

We join our clients, partners, and fellow citizens in condemning the injustice of Mr. Floyd’s death and the deaths of all those who have been victims of an entrenched system of discrimination and hate. We believe in and support the non-violent demonstrations, and we see hope in acts of kindness and humanity that have persevered despite opposition. But statements of solidarity and support will not create the change that is necessary. At Carleton Hart, we will continue our mission to bring positive change to our communities, but just as importantly, we will continue our mission to bring positive change to ourselves.