As such, the mission of organicARCHITECT goes beyond the greening of the design industry; their mission is to upgrade architecture design to one where it is the norm to equally consider the environment and the individuals as much as aesthetics and design.

As is occurring in many fields today, organicARCHITECT is bringing back a new level of integrity and consciousness to this art form where it can serve not simply for the utilitarian purpose of shelter, not simply as an exquisite and artistic expression of individuality or beauty, not simply as a monument to the splendor and perfection of the natural world and not simply as a considerate, green version of building devoid of character or creativity.  Rather architecture can be all of this, as most likely was the original intention of the great early architects that inspire so much of our design today.

The result of this truly holistic approach to architecture is the award-winning, high-end and client-centered works organicARCHITECT is known form.  From their conscious business practices to their conscious design, organicARCHITECT is raising the bar both for conscious businesses and design and architecture worldwide.

Why Green Design Architecture?

Eric Corey Freed, the principal & founder of organicARCHITECT, believes that architects in particular are in a tremendous position to affect great change in the environment.  This is because according to Freed, the buildings of the world consume 40% of the world’s energy and materials.  That is more energy and materials than consumed by cars.

Truly, the planetary benefits resulting from greening the building and design industries are so far reaching they are hard to imagine. To Freed, a future where all buildings will be green buildings is not just an option, it is the only option. And his team of conscious designers is doing a lot more than beautiful green design to get us to this inevitably green future faster.

Conscious Business Practices All Around

Applying their philosophies to their home base first, the organicARCHITECT offices are designed to be as eco-friendly as possible.  For example, the offices are naturally day lit with no electric lighting and as might be expected, they recycle all paper products, ink cartridges and essentially anything that goes in and out of the space.

Next of course, is the product they produce; high-end, client-centered, environmentally friendly architecture design.  Their selection process for projects is based on choosing the people who are commissioning the work rather than choosing work based on the project at hand.  This strong client focus results in the creation of truly unique designs that reflect client personality and fulfill individual needs.

Naturally, they take all steps to ensure the project is as ecologically responsible as possible.  For example, they thoroughly analyze the energy and water use of the building, what materials are being used and where the materials come from to ensure the most sustainable, non-toxic, eco-friendly options.

Not Just Green Design: organicARCHITECT Consultancy & Education

The mission of this conscious business goes far beyond making their projects beautiful and green.  In order to further move us down the path toward our abundantly green future, organicARCHITECT is committed to offering a myriad of other services that serve to educate and support the design community, consumers and ultimately our world.

For example, through consultancy services, they teach other architects how to go green and how to incorporate sustainability as a natural part of their design process without sacrificing quality or aesthetics.

Freed himself is also deeply committed to educating the community at large, having helped develop the Sustainable Design curricula at both Academy of Art University and University of California, Berkeley and lecturing extensively to students, home owners, and architects around the country.

Freed and the team at organicARCHITECT are also frequently found consulting community organizations and non-profits as well as hosting a myriad of events and design competitions to educate and stimulate the public towards their green goal. Freed also has an extensive list of publications under his name aimed at assisting professionals and consumers alike such as “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies”.

Redesigning Design to Redesign our World

In 1997 Freed founded this green design architecture firm as an alternative to the traditional design practice.  Based on the belief that green design does not have to be boring and that high end design and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive, the ultimately goal for organicARCHITECT is to assist us in reaching a future where all buildings will be beautiful, harmonic & green.

Visionaries such as Freed are helping us to redesign and recreate a healthy, sustainable life and world for ourselves and for all future generations to come.  And it is this considerate, innovative and pioneering attitude that we believe is what a conscious business is all about.

To learn more, visit http://www.organicarchitect.com/.

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After beginning the week vastly improved, and capped by a terrible late-Friday run, mortgage rates ended the week unchanged for the second week in a row.

This week, though, it’s anyone’s guess.  Wall Street comes back to work in force and, in the time since they’ve left, there’s been a lot going on:

• Holiday sales were even slower than expected
• Consumer confidence touched an all-time low
• Gas prices spiked nationally — by as much as 40 cents in some areas

Ironically, Wall Street will likely position the bad news as good for the stock market.  This is because negative economic data pressures Congress to pass larger, more sweeping stimulus in 2009.  However, what’s good for stocks is often bad for bonds and that’s the market from which mortgage rates are derived.

In fact, it was an exceptionally weak data point Friday that helped start the January 2 stock market rally that, consequently, caused mortgage rates to bulge.

This week, there’s only one high-profile data point to watch — Friday’s jobs report.  Economists are predicting the another 475,000 Americans lost their jobs in December and that the Unemployment Rate reached 7.0 percent. 

If the actual numbers are in-line or worse than the predictions, mortgage rates could rise on the same “More Stimulus” line of thinking. 

If the jobs data shows strength, however, don’t expect that rates will fall.   For now, markets are in a defensive stance about the economy and tends to work against rate shoppers and home buyers.

(Image courtesy: The Wall Street Journal Online)

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