Our client, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s BetterBricks initiative, sought to change the way architects and engineers approach their work – and one another – in order to design more efficient buildings. Our task was to inspire the design community to learn more about integrated design – a process that emphasizes energy early in the design process to ensure each decision supports the creation of a sustainable, efficient buildings.

Most architects and engineers talk about integrated design, but achieving it requires a higher level of collaboration and a more iterative process than typically gets employed, even here in the Northwest. While early collaboration is important, the nuts and bolts of integrated design are the strategies used – such as the integration of systems within a building to utilize climate resources and reduce overall energy use. We wanted to articulate the importance of these core elements that are instrumental in designing energy efficient buildings.

To tell this story, Coates Kokes interviewed and filmed leading engineers and architects who’ve built their careers on sustainable design. We edited the interviews together in-house into nine separate videos – utilizing motion graphics and stunning photography to build drama around the subject matter.

The final product is a video-driven micro-site that serves as an interactive resource for the design community wishing to learn more about integrated design. It might sound a little complicated, but in the end, the tool is quite inspirational.  Watch it.  You’ll feel like an architect. Or an engineer.

Check it out at designsynthesis.betterbricks.com.