By Deborah Snoonian, P.E.

New Jersey–based WESKetch Architecture has a number of LEED-accredited architects on staff to complete green-building projects.

WESKetch Architecture, based in Millington, New Jersey, is a firm of 20 people that provides architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, and interior design services. It specializes in residential design, focusing on new construction and renovations that combine traditional styles of architecture updated with modern technological advances. The firm’s principals were the first architects in the state of New Jersey to be LEED-accredited through the U.S. Green Building Council. record spoke to principal and firm owner William E.S. Kaufman, AIA, who founded the firm seven years ago.

ARCHITECTURAL RECORD: How do you present projects to your clients in digital form?

WILLIAM KAUFMAN: We began by utilizing existing photographs, cutting and pasting various elements [of them] until the desired design effect was achieved. This process expedited the concept development and presentation phases of our projects and opened our minds to more refined techniques. The combination of hand drawings and photographs using photo-editing software results in a photorealistic image of a project for the client to visualize.

Now we build a lot of massing models using 3D software. By combining mass modeling done with 3D design software and hand rendering of those images, we can have the best of both worlds—we are able to keep the images soft and allow our clients to complete them in their minds, while also maintaining accuracy in the schematic design process.

After creating a simple 3D massing model (below), designers at WESKetch Architecture hand render the details of the design and its local context (bottom) for residential clients who prefer softer images. Photography and images: Courtesy Wesketch Architecture

AR: Are there any design tools you’re particularly fond of?

WK: We just started using Sketch-Up and we find the program to be surprisingly intuitive. You can “push” and “pull” at models as you would a clay model, yet maintain absolute accuracy.

AR: What do your residential clients think of the tools you use?

WK: Not a lot of our clients have the time or the knowledge to interact with complicated 3D models. We can send them images, but we don’t expect them to mark up or understand models or have online meetings with us or things like that. Plus, we feel that we would lose the hands-on approach if we were to rely on e-mail for communication.

AR: How does technology help you design sustainable buildings?

WK: We use a number of different online tools and software resources for this purpose. The GreenSpec.com product directory helps us identify products that have been examined for their environmental impact. Environmental Building News’s online archives are also helpfulin researching specific issues, such as how to reuse certain building materials.

For sun studies and energy modeling, we use a package called SOLAR-5 to examine heat gain in buildings. That software works within Accurender to produce a thermal diagram that shows us where the hotspots in a building are located. And we use the Department of Energy’s Energy-10 software for sophisticated modeling.

A program called REScheck helps us meet New Jersey’s energy codes. You plug in a building’s design criteria, and it tells you if there are areas of noncompliance. For buildings where we want to collect storm-water runoff from roofs on-site, a simple program by the makers of storage tanks called SIMTANK lets you enter the roof area and the project’s location, then calculates how large a tank you’ll need.

We also use the Green Building Advisor, an interactive database of case studies that gives us feedback on what types of green-building strategies to use based on a project’s size, location, and use.

AR: For a firm of your size, what’s the biggest challenge you face in using technology?

WK: We have to realize that not all technologies are appropriate for all projects. It’s important for small practices to remain competitive when budgeting their work, yet simultaneously to possess the ability to present their work competently to clients. I believe we’re pretty bold in the use of technology. It’s important for us to have as many tools at our disposal as possible so that we can remain competitive, so we are constantly investing in new tools to try them out.

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