Street Dixon Rick Architecture, PLC recently installed solar panels on the roof of its two-story office building on Kenner Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. “Architects are advising clients to ‘think green’ and we wanted to lead the way,” says Steve Rick, principal. “Over time, this investment will more than pay for itself.”

The 72 photovoltaic panels have the potential to generate 12 kWh of green energy. They generate power when the sun is out and even on some cloudy days.

“I'm planning to track this to determine exactly how long it takes to pay for itself,” says Rick. “Right now we're hopeful this payback will be in the 10- to 12-year range and that's a very conservative estimate.”

Street Dixon Rick has taken a leadership role in sustainable, environmentally friendly design and construction. That's one of the reasons the firm was selected to design the largest residential green complex in Tennessee, which is underway at the Vanderbilt University campus. The Vanderbilt project is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered and is on target to be certified at the silver level.

The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

To cover the installation costs of the solar panels at its Kenner Avenue location, Street Dixon Rick had help from the Tennessee Clean Energy Technology grant program, which pays as much as 40% of a clean energy tech system. Street Dixon Rick is the first commercial firm to provide energy back to NES through the generation partners program. The firm also worked with Steve Johnson with LightWave Electric, designer/installer of solar panels systems.

“There are 72 solar panels on our roof, and if you step to the side of the building, you can see that one meter shows how much power we're supplying at any given time, and the other one shows how much our offices use,” says Rick.

All the firm's architects provide expert advice on creating green building designs and the large majority has also completed certification in LEED. This professional accreditation is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council only to those who have proven a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles.