Setting the Standard for Green Buildings
With an outstanding base of commercial, industrial, municipality and residential clients, the Spinnaker Group is extremely proud of our reputation.
We are grateful, as well, that a large percentage of our practice is tied to repeat and referral business. With more than 15 years under our belt, the consulting work we do is absolutely solid. When we tell clients that whatever they have hired our team to do will be done right and on time, you can count on exactly that. Experienced. Dependable. Reliable. Trustworthy. That’s the Spinnaker way of doing business.
LEED Consulting
The Spinnaker Group is one of the premier LEED consultants — nationally and internationally. With more than 200 LEED projects to its credit, Spinnaker has extensive knowledge and experience in LEED consulting and the application of the USGBC LEED Rating Systems. The Spinnaker team can assist you in maximizing your LEED credits across a variety of market adaptations including the LEED BD+C, ID+C, O+M and Neighborhood Development suite of rating systems.
Living Building Challenge Consulting
The Living Building Challenge is a building certification program, advocacy tool and philosophy that defines today’s most advanced measures of sustainability and resiliency in the built environment.
WELL Building Consulting
The Spinnaker Group is proud to be a Keystone Member of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Our Principal, Jonathan Burgess, is WELL Faculty and a WELL AP, as well as the WELL project administrator for seven WELL projects outside of the USA.
Florida Green Building Coalition Consulting
The intent of the FGBC Standard is to encourage building owners to adopt green and sustainable strategies during the design and construction of their project and to receive recognition for their efforts. Unlike LEED (whose focus is best on global best practices), FGBC is implemented solely throughout the State of Florida. The FGBC Standard covers all residential, commercial and land development patterns applicable here in Florida. Similar to LEED, FGBC utilizes a point-based system for pursuing and achieving sustainable strategies in a project.
NGBS Consulting
The National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is the first and only residential and multi-family green building rating system approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The NGBS provides practices for the design and construction of all types of green residential buildings, renovations, and land developments.
Energy Modeling
Energy modeling or energy system modeling is the process of building computer models of energy systems in order to analyze them. Such models often employ scenario analysis to investigate different assumptions about the technical and economic conditions at play. Outputs may include the system feasibility, greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative financial costs, natural resource use, and energy efficiency of the system under investigation. A wide range of techniques are employed, ranging from broadly economic to broadly engineering.
Building Commissioning
Project Commissioning (Cx) is the process of assuring that all systems and components of a building are designed, installed, tested, operated and maintained according to the operational requirements of the owner or client. A Commissioning process may be applied not only to new projects, but also to existing units and systems subject to expansion, renovation or revamping.
Indoor Air Quality Testing
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is the air quality within and around buildings and structures. IAQ is known to affect the health, comfort and wellbeing of building occupants. Poor indoor air quality has been linked to Sick Building Syndrome, reduced productivity, and impaired learning in schools. Determination of IAQ involves the collection of air samples, monitoring human exposure to pollutants, collection of samples on building surfaces, and computer modelling of air flow inside buildings.
Sustainable SITES Initiative
The Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) is a comprehensive land design and development rating system that is being used by both private and public sectors all around the world. SITES certification is given to landscapes, site infrastructure and spaces that demonstrate a high level of environmental and social sustainability. SITES works for all types of projects with or without a building – including parks, university campuses and commercial headquarters – for new construction or major renovation of existing sites.
Parksmart Consulting
Parking presents a unique sustainability opportunity. There are more than 1.2 billion motorized vehicles in the world today, and that number is expected to double by 2030. Buildings and transportation are the two biggest drivers of CO2 emissions globally. Parking asset investors, owners and consumers are seeking greener solutions. Carbon emissions, pollution and fossil fuel consumption can be significantly reduced by smart operation of our parking operations.
Life Cycle Assessments
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) is a compilation and evaluation of the inputs and outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. The entire life cycle of a product (or building) is examined, the processes and constituents identified, and their environmental effects assessed — both upstream, from the point of manufacture or raw materials extraction, and downstream, including transportation, use, maintenance, and end of life. This approach is sometimes called “cradle to grave”. Going even further, “cradle to cradle” emphasizes recycling and reuse at the end of life rather than disposal.
EcoDistricts Consulting
The EcoDistricts certification Protocol is a rigorous standard and tool designed to foster neighborhood sustainability through social equity and smart urban planning. It helps us think beyond building walls and out into the urban spaces and organizations that make up a community.
LEED & WELL Education & Training
The Spinnaker Group is a Continuing Education Provider for AIA and GBCI. We have a longstanding, excellent track record of educating developers; architectural, design and engineering firms; government employees; and contractors. Our education programs can provide an overview of LEED, WELL, SITES or a workshop to assist in becoming a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) or any other areas of sustainable design you may require. Our difference-maker — All education courses are conducted by USGBC Faculty and WELL Faculty with real-life experience in sustainable design and certifying LEED buildings. We also do lunch-and-learns!
Speaking Engagements & Panels
Looking for an industry thought-leader with in-depth green-building and sustainability knowledge who will educate, inspire and motivate your audience? The core group of Spinnaker Group’s leadership team has long been tapped by event planners — corporate, industry, municipalities and nonprofit — to provide relevant, engaging green-building talks or participate in panel discussions. Recent engagements include the list below. Reach out to Spinnaker~Speakers and have a discussion about whether a Spinnaker team member might align directly with your event’s purpose and audience.
Existing Building Operations & Maintenance Consulting
Content to come
Green Globes Consulting
Content to come
Re-Commissioning
Content to come
Retro-Commissioning
Content to come