Ideas

Our design process guides us to plan for today’s requirements and prepare for tomorrow’s unknowns. Here we pull back the curtain on our practice to share that process with you.

Cultivating a Replicable and Transparent Wood Supply Chain at PDX Airport

When phase one of the new main terminal at Portland International Airport (PDX) opens, it will be the first major airport in the US with a mass timber roof.

Sustainability
April 23, 2024

Decarbonizing Healthcare for Healthier Communities

Greener buildings mean healthier communities and a healthier bottom line. Healthcare decarbonization – reducing the emissions from building and operating facilities – is the new frontier.

Sustainability
April 18, 2024

ZGF Joins Colorado Mass Timber Coalition

The Colorado Mass Timber Coalition is a collaborative initiative dedicated to advancing the development of a mass timber ecosystem in the state.

News
February 20, 2024

2024: A Pivotal Year for Climate Innovation

We asked our ZGF sustainability leaders across the firm about the solutions and innovations that are inspiring their work.

Sustainability
December 20, 2023

ZGF Signs HHS Health Sector Climate Pledge

ZGF is honored to join the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Sector Climate Pledge, standing with our nation’s leading healthcare organizations in recognizing and rising to the challenge of climate change.

Sustainability
December 04, 2023

THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT

Designs for the airports of tomorrow must place sustainability front and center. Sharron van der Meulen, Managing Partner of ZGF’s Portland office, shares her thoughts on what the future holds.

Sustainability
October 29, 2023

Research: ZGF Releases Low Carbon Concrete Guidelines

Concrete: A Pragmatic Approach to Lowering Embodied Carbon is an easy-to-use interactive guide for reducing embodied carbon of concrete in the built environment.

Research and Tools
September 11, 2023

Code Green: California Implements Mandatory Reductions for Embodied Carbon

Earlier this month California became the first state to adopt unprecedented building code changes to limit embodied carbon in non-residential buildings and K-12 schools.

Sustainability
August 30, 2023

ZGF Joins First Movers Coalition to Accelerate Market for Net-Zero Building Materials

ZGF has joined the First Movers Coalition to send a strong market demand signal for the emerging low and zero carbon technologies essential for a net-zero economy and the impactful role architects can have in that transition.

Sustainability
August 08, 2023

Driving Discovery

Designing environments that effectively support world changing discovery require the weaving together of many disparate ideas, functions, and needs—much like scientific discovery itself.

Sustainability
April 05, 2023
An atrium constructed from CLT and Glulam at a school in Vermont

Mass Timber’s Transformation

Put aside your visions of rustic log cabins. Wood is experiencing a rebrand. 

Sustainability
June 22, 2022