IMPACT
Environmental + Social Responsibility
Certified B Corporation®
Carleton Hart Architecture is a Certified B Corporation with an overall score of 122.3. Certified B Corporations are for-profit companies that use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. They meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Just Organization
The Just Program is a voluntary disclosure tool for organizations and is administered by the International Living Future Institute. Just is not a certification program, it is a transparency platform for organizations to disclose their operations, including how they treat their employees and where they make financial and community investments.
Sustainability at Work
CHA has held the Gold rating for the City of Portland's Sustainability at Work since 2016. Carleton Hart focuses on integrating key sustainability topics that impact our projects, community, and office operations. We are committed to upholding our sustainability mission by fostering intentional behaviors throughout all aspects of our practice.
USGBC Member
Thirty percent of our staff are LEED Accredited Professionals or LEED Green Associates. We are experienced designing to meet numerous Green Path standards, including LEED, Earth Advantage, Enterprise Green Communities, OHCS Green Path, and Evergreen Sustainable Development Standards.
Passive House Initiative, US
CHA’s dedication to both green architecture and sustainable community development is demonstrated in our work and in our staff’s individual commitments to obtain certifications. Three of our team members are Certified Passive House Consultants.
Passive House International
With a Certified Passive House Designer on staff, we place special emphasis on sustainability measures that result in lower utility bills for building users, healthier living environments, and buildings that last.
Fitwel®
CHA is proud to have a Fitwel® Ambassador on staff. Fitwel® aggregates professionals from public health, design, development, statistics, and research disciplines to promote healthy strategies in building design. Ambassadors are leaders and active participants in the Fitwel® healthy building movement. (The Fitwel service marks (word and logos) are owned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. Participation by The Center for Active Design and/or any other organization does not imply endorsement by HHS.)
WELL AP
Our interior designer is accredited with the WELL Building Standard, a standard for buildings, interior spaces and communities seeking to implement, validate and measure features that support and advance human health and wellness.
Other CHA Initiatives
INTERIOR DESIGN + MATERIAL HEALTH
We approach interior design as an integrated process, prioritizing users’ needs with a focus on material health and environmental responsibility in the materials we specify. Our materials library is constantly working to introduce new and eliminate concerning materials as material health research evolves. We prioritize materials with transparency documents and highlight labels such as mindful MATERIALs and Declare in our library. We strive to educate our employees on material hazards in the built environment and we advocate for the disclosure of material ingredients in the materials industry. Our library supports the products of local and U.S. manufacturers where possible in order to reduce our materials carbon footprint.
TRAUMA-INFORMED DESIGN
Our design philosophy integrates trauma-informed design principles into a range of project types. We design for dignity, empowerment, and healing through simple, straightforward solutions that allow people to comprehend and navigate their environment with ease. We strive for a sense of security and address social isolation through thoughtfully crafted community spaces. Access to natural light and nature, space for privacy, low-contrast colors and textures, natural materials, open sight-lines and wayfinding all contribute to these healing environments.
2030 COMMITMENT
CHA started reporting projects through the AIA 2030 Commitment, Design Data Exchange (“DDx”) in August 2018. We recognize the critical need for more consistent and more rigorous metrics related to actual building performance and further commit our firm’s assistance to the AIA and others in the ongoing development of effective metrics and standards for reporting purposes.
CHA SERVES
Service is a core value of Carleton Hart Architecture. As a firm, we share a deep commitment to serve others and make contributions to our community. We recognize that service can take many forms, so we strive to diversify our approach with activities that strengthen our culture and reinforce our mission. As an office, we participate in various community service events throughout the year and also support employees in their own personal volunteer efforts through our Staff Volunteering Program, which gives staff the opportunity to dedicate paid time to community-based organizations of their choosing.