Overcoming Barriers: Bergmeyer's Design Collective Tackles the Barrier of Sustainability Issue Head-On
From Architecture Firm to Design Collaborative: Bergmeyer's Revolutionary Approach
The construction industry has a massive environmental footprint - responsible for a staggering 42% of global carbon emissions. With the world set to add another 2.6 trillion square feet of new floor area to its existing building stock, the decisions we make today about design, construction, and operation will significantly impact our planet for decades to come. Enter Bergmeyer, an innovative design firm shaking up the industry.
Bergmeyer was initially an architecture firm, but it's evolved into a radical design collaborative, smashing traditional barriers between specialties. Their unique, interdisciplinary structure blends sustainability, architecture, branding, and interior design into one harmonious process. By breaking down silos, Bergmeyer's team can tackle projects from multiple angles, delivering wholly unique design solutions.
I recently chatted with Bergmeyer's CEO, Rachel Zsembery, and Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Peter Nobile, about their sustainability-focused approach. Their collaborative mindset transforms everything from retail design, adaptive reuse of public buildings, to material selection processes that prioritize factors like embodied carbon, circularity, and chemical composition.
One such project is Bergmeyer's student dining center at UMass Amherst, which showcases the transformation of existing buildings to balance contemporary needs with preserving embodied carbon assets. Bergmeyer's engagement in policymaking and advocacy at local and national levels also helps propel progressive industry standards and tackle challenges in community planning processes.
Q: What sets Bergmeyer apart?
Rachel Zsembery: Unlike traditional architecture or design agencies, Bergmeyer defines itself as a design collaborative. This allows us to offer fully integrated services to clients, breaking free from the constraints of siloed thinking. Instead of multiple agencies working in isolation, our team collaborates across disciplines to create seamless, sustainable design solutions.
Q: Your approach seems crucial for sustainability, integrating it throughout the design process from construction materials to finished products. Can you elaborate on this?
Rachel Zsembery: We work closely with clients to establish broad environmental and social values, creating a North Star for gauging success. We rarely push clients towards specific green building rating systems because they may not align fully with their values. Instead, we pick and choose elements from different systems, such as LEED, Passive House principles, and WELL building standards, tailoring our approach to meet stated goals and incentivize innovative thinking.
Our strategy extends beyond the design process; we don't externalize sustainability work but handle it in-house. Californian projects, for example, must meet the high sustainability requirements of the CALGreen code. Lessons learned from these projects inform our teams working on projects in other states. This integrated, holistic approach to sustainability sets Bergmeyer apart.
Peter Nobile: Becoming a Certified B Corp aligns closely with our mission, as it encompasses environmental stewardship without prioritizing it over community impact. We recognize that sustainability also entails improving operations, reducing waste, and creating healthier work environments.
Q: Can you share a project or two that highlights how sustainability set Bergmeyer apart?
Rachel Zsembery: The student dining center at UMass Amherst is an excellent example. Our work often involves adaptive reuse, especially in public higher education with mid-20th-century buildings. We're tasked with evaluating whether buildings can meet current needs while preserving historical elements. The challenge lies in balancing priorities like accessibility, lifesafety measures, learning spaces, and energy efficiency.
We aim to maximize infrastructure reuse while investing in durable, energy-efficient materials. With dining halls, we work with student dining programs on building electrification projects to ensure operational efficiency and reduce utility demands.
Q: Sometimes it's cheaper to demolish old buildings and build new ones. How do you help clients understand the benefits of retrofitting existing buildings?
Rachel Zsembery: Historic buildings contain significant embodied carbon, which we need to preserve whenever possible. Long-term thinking is key here. We encourage clients to think 50-80 years ahead to recognize the environmental and financial benefits of retrofitting existing buildings.
One retail project involved a Civil War-era building on Newbury Street in Boston. Renovating this landmark structure was challenging, but our team managed to preserve many historical elements while integrating modern amenities that allowed the building to serve future generations.
Peter Nobile: When working on such projects, we run multiple design and construction scheduling and system options using our BIM system to help clients find the ideal balance between their vision and budget. Our focus is on accomplishing their goals without compromising sustainability.
Q: How does changing technology impact your work?
Peter Nobile: We utilize various Life Cycle Analysis and embodied energy/carbon tools embedded in our BIM software. Our aim is to routinely track project performance on several fronts as we progress, improved data tools will enable this. We're working towards specifying less energy- and toxic-intensive materials through alignment with the Common Materials Framework.
Q: What impact does this multidisciplinary collaboration have on changing policy and industry standards?
Rachel Zsembery: Our involvement spans local, regional, national, and international levels, from the AIA 2030 commitment to COP26 advocacy. Many team members engage civically and locally due to our corporate values promoting volunteerism. Our collective efforts help drive change at various scales, such as implementing sustainable building commitments for developers or fostering progressive public policy standards.
[1] Source: Enrichment DataBergmeyer's design collaborative approach is integrated across several key aspects, including environmental stewardship, multi-disciplinary collaboration, and innovative solutions. This approach ensures that sustainability is an integral part of their practice, resulting in more sustainable buildings and spaces that prioritize people, communities, and the planet.
Bergmeyer's commitment to sustainability is reflected in their strategy to integrate environmental stewardship throughout their design process, from construction materials to finished products. In 2025, the firm aims to further solidify this approach by becoming a Certified B Corp, aligning with their mission to encompass environmental stewardship, community impact, and operational excellence. The firm's unique, multidisciplinary collaboration enables them to tackle design projects from multiple angles, delivering innovative and sustainable solutions, such as the student dining center at UMass Amherst and the renovation of historical buildings like the Civil War-era structure on Newbury Street in Boston.
