Green Building | Watkins Design Works

State’s future requires triple bottom line thinking (WV Sunday Gazette-Mail, Feb. 10, 2019)

Jill

February 10, 2019

Recently, I attended two different economic forecast meetings in the Kanawha Valley and would like to share some thoughts as a small business owner and environmentalist regarding the future of our state. I am sole owner of a professional services company and while the new federal tax law is helping me financially in the short term, tax law in general does not influence my business decisions when it comes to hiring and expanding. Long-term economic growth would be the driving factor, and what I’ve seen forecasted is more of the same level of thinking and keeping of the status quo.…

Green Buildings, Interior Design

When should you hire a professional interior designer?

Jill

July 19, 2017

I’ve been practicing commercial interior design for over 20 years, yet many people are still unsure about what I do. The industry hasn’t been effective at making the profession as well-known as other design professions, and with overlaps with both architecture and interior decoration, true interior design can be seen as a bit of an unknown. One key difference between interior design and architecture is scale. To design a building is a much larger proposition than designing an interior space. In my experience, there are benefits to having both architects and interior designers on a project team. As in all…

Green Buildings, Interior Design

Entrepreneurship Week 2014

Jill

January 2, 2015

In November 2014, the Charleston Area Alliance celebrated National Entrepreneurship Week by highlighting several small businesses, including Watkins Design Works. Click here to read the full article: A Passion For Her Profession.

Green Buildings

Nature Can Be A Model For Success In WV

Jill

April 4, 2014

(from The State Journal 4/4/14) Green building and issues of sustainability appear to be at a crossroads in West Virginia. Several factors contribute to this. One, the state legislature adopted the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 for energy use in commercial buildings last fall. Now, West Virginia energy standards are finally in line with the majority of the country, including our neighboring states, yet still not at the forefront of current code adoption. (Maryland adopted the most recent energy code, ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010.) Two, the so-called “war on coal” and the collateral damage of climate change from burning fossil fuels has heightened…

Green Buildings

Charleston Gazette Op-Ed 1/29/14

Jill

January 29, 2014

Whether we realize it or not, right now we’re seeing what happens when one leg of the Triple Bottom Line is broken. We all understand a company’s “bottom line.” Indeed, Freedom Industries must be well aware of this common business phrase. But when we only consider the financial bottom line in decision-making (Economy), we leave the other two legs of Equity and Environment potentially damaged. Economy, Equity and Environment – the “three E’s” making up the Triple Bottom Line. Also think of it in terms of the “three P’s”: Profit, People, Planet. We’re sold different stories regarding what our priorities…

Green Buildings

Green Building FAQ’s

Jill

December 29, 2013

1. What is green building? It is a design approach that goes beyond conventional building design by integrating the following elements: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and innovation. It requires an integrated design process that considers the many disparate parts of a building project and examines the interaction between design, construction and operations to optimize the energy and environmental performance of the project. The strength of this process is that all relevant issues are considered simultaneously in order to solve many problems with one solution. 2. What is sustainability? The standard definition was…