SUSTAINABILITY Consistent with Pyatok Architects’ mission to promote social and environmental equity for all households, we constantly challenge our clients, our professional partners, and ourselves to develop and integrate state of the art sustainable measures into all aspects of our designs. Pyatok Architects has practiced sustainable design for over 20 years through the creation of high density urban infill projects and community-based affordable housing. Based on this extensive experience, we have crafted an approach to sustainable design that addresses the specific social and physical challenges and opportunities of infill residential development. FOCUS on SUSTAINABLE INFILL DEVELOPMENT Community Based Sustainable Design Pyatok Architects actively engages neighborhoods in a hands-on community design process that allows community members and policy makers to understand, embrace, and shape new sustainable infill development in their communities. This interactive community process is critical to gaining insight into the special social and cultural needs of residents to assure long-term residency, and to gain the support of neighbors, stakeholders, and public agencies for the gradual introduction of higher density mixed use development in existing neighborhoods. Sustainable Density Our practice emphasizes maximizing the potential and livability of every infill site. We pursue this goal through constant innovation in every aspect of design; seeking to reduce reliance on automobiles, to shape attractive useful, outdoor spaces, and to create smart building envelopes that maximize natural day lighting and ventilation while reducing energy consumption. All of these elements contribute to the realization of safe, stable, livable urban communities that make higher density development desirable as well as sustainable. Greening Affordable Housing To assist our non-profit clients in establishing clear priorities at the outset of the green design process, Pyatok Architects developed a weighted matrix of sustainable measures specifically relevant to affordable housing. This matrix allows the client and the design team to set sustainability goals early in the design process.