Hello,
I have bought property and am going to build two 20k sq ft office
buildings near Granite Bay (Sacramento) California. The architect used
by the business park has no knowledge of how to go about designing for
and obtaining grants or other assistance from the government or
private sources for choosing to make the building as energy efficient
(green) as possible. These items would include (but not be limited to)
various kinds of glass, cooling systems, and solar panels. The basic
question is can you find such an architect and what sources are there
for grants or other types of assistance with the differences in
building costs?

Dear debster-ga:

Thank you for your question. I have found a half dozen architect firms
and private architects that specialize in commercial design and
sustainable technologies. Credit goes to doctor_search-ga for the
results from the AIA website, although I have limited the search to
commercial architects who specialize in sustainable office
developments.

I have also found quite a few resources where you may find grants and
rebates for energy efficiency buildings. Most of these grants are for
R&D rather than development. Funding for development programs most are
in the form of energy efficiency rebates from electric and State
sources.

Here are the commercial architects that I have found from the American
Institue of Architects that have expertise in sustainable office
buildings near Sacramento:

Applied Architecture, Inc.
2420 K St. #200
Sacramento, CA 95816-5029
Phone: (916) 442-6955
Fax: (916) 442-6649
E-mail: mfm@appliedarchitecture.net
http://www.appliedarchitecture.net
 
carissimi rohrer mcmullen shively, architects & planners, inc.
707 Commons Dr. #250
Sacramento, CA 95825-6664
Phone: (916) 925-6009
Fax: (916) 925-6340
E-mail: crm@crmsarchitects.com
http://www.crmsarchitects.com
 
Lionakis Beaumont Design Group Inc.
1919 19th St.
Sacramento, CA 95814-6714
Phone: (916) 558-1900
Fax: (916) 558-1919
E-mail: etienne@lbdg.com
http://www.lbdg.com
 
LPA Sacramento, Inc.
1215 G St.
Sacramento, CA 95814-1515
Phone: (916) 443-0335
Fax: (916) 441-2823
E-mail: design@lpasacramento.com
http://www.lpasacramento.com
 
MFDB Architects, Inc.
3444 Marconi Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95821-6234
Phone: (916) 972-0131
Fax: (916) 481-1845

Source: http://www.aiaa.org/consumer

The EEBA (Energy and Environmental Building Association) is a
nonprofit organization that promotes the awareness, education and
development of energy efficient, environmentally responsible buildings
and communities. The strength of EEBA lies in the diversity and talent
of its membership, which includes: architects, builders, developers,
manufacturers, engineers, utilities, code officials, researchers,
educators, and environmentalists.
Source: http://www.eeba.org/inside/default.htm

The EEBA also maintains a member directory. A search for architects in
Sacramento returned one result:

Jerry Lewis
BIG Architecture
PO Box 2150
Sacramento, CA 95812
916-452-2286 
archiBIG@aol.com
http://www.eeba.org/memdir/default.asp?FName=&LName=&Company=&City=Sacramento&Code=Architect&State=CA

GreenBuilder.com also maintains a database of Green builders and
architects, but their search enginer appears to be having troubles at
the moment. Here is the address:
http://directory.greenbuilder.com/search.gbpro


Here are some resources for energy efficiency financing options,
mostly consisting of rebates, grants and loans:

The California Energy Efficiency Rebate database allows you to search
for all rebates offered by public and private institutions (such as
utility companies) for energe efficiency rebates.
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/rebate/index.php

The California Energy Commission has a page for businesses with links
to other energy efficiency financing resources.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/peakload/businesses.html

Some of the programs the CEC runs include:

The Cash for Kilowatts Program
http://www.energy.ca.gov/peakload/cash_kilowatts.html

The Cool Roofs Program
http://www.energy.ca.gov/peakload/cool_roofs.html

and the Renewable Energy Buy-down Program (for renewable power such as
solar panels)
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/buydown/index.html

SavingsbyDesign is an incentive program offered by California electric
companies for energy effiency buildings. They offer a $150,000 maximum
incentive for owners and $50,000 maximum incentive for design teams.

Owner Incentives:
http://www.savingsbydesign.com/ownerincentive.htm

Design Team Incentives:
http://www.savingsbydesign.com/teamincen.htm

The Small Business Administration offers a Pollution Control Loan
Program with low interest rates for energy efficiency projects, up to
a maximum of $2,000,000. Here is the relevant page:
http://www.sba.gov/financing/frpollute.html

The EPA has an a comprehensive guidebook for Financial Tools for
environmental financing, which is available here:
http://www.epa.gov/efinpage/guidbkpdf.htm

There are also some great resources on financing energy efficiency
projects at the Smart Communities Network, which is run by the US.
Department of Energy. Some of the methods outlined include Taxes,
Grants, Bonds, and Loans:
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/financing/principles.shtml

The same site also offers a frequently updates funding opportunities
list, but most of these are for research programs. You can check for
any relevant grants here:
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/management/financl.shtml


Additional Resources:

The US. Green Building Council maintains a list of links related to
Green Buildings. It is a very comprehensive list that you may use for
further information.
http://www.usgbc.org/Resources/links.asp#11


Google Search Strategy:

green architects sacramento
://www.google.com/search?q=green+architects+sacramento&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&start=20&sa=N

I hope this helps!

Best Regards,
blader-ga

This answer was complete and timely, although it could have provided
some conclusions instead of just links to find information. I would
have liked to have had more discussion of the links. I am happy and
feel that the researcher earned his/her fees.

Hiya Debster,

First let me commend you taking time to consider how to best be a good
steward of the environment while embarking on this exciting business
adventure.

I answer both of your questions below:

1) I would start looking for an architect who is familiar with "green"
practices through the following search engine sponsored by AIA (the
American Institute of Architects):

http://www.aia.org/consumer/

* use the search engine by first selecting "institutional" and then
"Find an AIA architect"

* select your state

* next choose a metropolitan area and also building type; under "type
of service"- here's the green part - select "sustainable design"
(incorporates energy efficient design)

(when selecting sacramento and "all buildings" with "sustainable
design", I retrieved 9 architectural firms in the Sacramento area)

2) An excellent resource for locating funding for commercial "green"
buildings:

http://www.fundinggreenbuildings.com/

Best of luck,

Doctor_Search-ga  
 ~aspiring to be a Google Answers paid-researcher to pick up a little
extra cash while in graduate school~

And by all means, check out the work of William McDonough, the dean of
the green architects.  He's been featured in Time magazine, NPR, TV
specials, etc.  Even if you don't use his firm, it's certainly
worthwhile becoming a bit familiar with his very innovative,
cost-effective work in this area.  For some reason, his site at:

www.mcdonoughpartners.com/

is down right now (at least from where I am, I can't get through). 
But if you just do a google search on his name, you'll come up with
many hits, pretty much all of them impressive.

Best of luck in your efforts.