A Decarbonization Roadmap for Sports & Large Event Venues (2025)
As cities across North America look to rebuild and revision themselves after the pandemic, there has been a more concerted…
Service: Sustainable Buildings
Smarter Buildings, Smaller Footprints
Future-proof your portfolio with sustainable design
Sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have. With the changing climate and increasing climate risk to building assets, it’s a business imperative. We help developers and building owners embed sustainability from the start, supporting environmental goals without compromising project timelines or budgets. From strategy to green building certification, our services help you design buildings that reduce impact, increase efficiency, and align with global ESG expectations.
I’ve seen firsthand how powerful it is when sustainability is embedded from the start. At RWDI, we don’t just check boxes—we help clients make data-driven decisions that reduce env...
How our sustainable building services can benefit your project
Boost lifetime asset value with sustainable, high-performance buildings
Create buildings that are not only efficient, resilient, and built for people, but that also lead the market. We turn sustainability into strategy, helping you cut costs, boost performance, and deliver spaces that thrive now and in the future.
Reduce costs with optimized energy and water systems
We take the guesswork out of energy and water system design by showing you how energy and water performance targets affect your project’s bottom line. Through advanced modeling, we simulate your building’s energy and water use, then fine-tune performance based on climate, technology choices and occupant behavior.
Design with climate in mind
Performance isn’t one-size-fits-all, and the local climate is everything. Our world–leading climate-based solutions help you design for your exact site. By using predictive algorithms and deep environmental insight to uncover performance opportunities others miss, we help you hit your targets without overdesigning. Make the climate work for you, not against you.
Build sustainability from day one
Sustainability works best when it’s part of the plan—not an afterthought. We align your vision with the right goals, frameworks, and certifications paths (LEED, WELL, BREEAM, and more), and help define what sustainability truly means for your project. From pre-design to post-occupancy, we keep your values front and center and compliance on track.
Healthy buildings, happy occupants
Green buildings are not just about saving energy, they’re about creating better places to live, work, and thrive. We optimize thermal comfort, acoustic performance, daylight, as well as indoor air and water quality to support health, comfort, and well-being. By integrating environmental data with design, we create spaces that feel as good as they perform.
How we help
For decades, we’ve led the sustainability movement, shaping global performance trends. Our creative solutions produce successful, sustainable buildings that are feasible to build and support your financial goals and long-term viability.
man inspecting cooling equipment
LEED plaque
building with greenroof
climate resilient building
high windows
system control room
man inspecting cooling equipment
Performance enhancement for existing buildings
Our commissioning and consulting services boost building efficiency, regardless of age or current performance. Low-cost improvements can reduce utility costs by up to 25% and extend the lifespan of equipment. With deep technical expertise, advanced tools, and a proven track record, RWDI delivers real, measurable improvements. From energy audits and analytics to code compliance and continuous monitoring, we fine-tune every system for peak performance with verified results and long-term value.
Speak with a sustainability consultant
LEED plaque
Sustainable design consulting and green building certifications
We translate your sustainability vision into achievable certifications, such as LEED or WELL, guiding you through the best-fit frameworks and metrics for success.
Our custom tools, streamline documentation so you can focus on value, not paperwork. We ensure efficient tracking and assessment and help drive your project toward high-impact milestones, smoothly and strategically.
Speak with a sustainability consultant
building with greenroof
Net zero, decarbonization, and carbon reduction planning
Embodied carbon now accounts for up to half of a new building’s lifetime emissions—making it a business-critical issue. At RWDI, we help you take control of your carbon footprint with pragmatic, design-integrated strategies that support your net-zero or carbon-neutral goals. Our experts use industry-leading tools and draw from global benchmarks to deliver clear, actionable pathways tailored to your project’s budget, timeline, and performance goals.
From early material decisions to long-term decarbonization plans, we combine deep expertise in building science, operational energy modeling, and climate analytics to uncover carbon reduction opportunities others might miss. Whether you’re planning a new build or upgrading an existing asset, we’ll help you align your sustainability ambitions with real-world results.
Speak with a decarbonization expert
climate resilient building
Climate resilience strategies
As climate risks accelerate, resilience isn’t optional—it’s essential to protecting assets, reducing operational risk, and securing project approvals. RWDI helps you turn climate data into a strategic advantage with resilience planning that’s science-driven, design-integrated, and commercially grounded. We deliver clear, actionable insights for both new construction and existing assets helping you mitigate risk, meet investor and regulatory expectations, and plan confidently for the future.
Our team brings together engineers, climate scientists, and sustainability consultants to assess vulnerability, model future scenarios, and recommend practical, cost-effective adaptation strategies. From site-specific climate projections to resilience assessments, we help you safeguard performance while aligning with green building certifications, GHG reduction targets, and long-term planning goals.
Speak with a climate resilience expert
high windows
Daylight for comfort, sustainability and profitability
Good natural light is key to creating spaces people love. When used effectively, it creates buildings that are visually appealing, thermally comfortable, and more energy efficient. For building developers and asset owners, this translates into higher tenant satisfaction, reduced operational costs, and stronger sustainability outcomes.
Without the right strategy, daylighting can lead to overheating, glare, and increased cooling loads. We leverage advanced modeling and climate-based metrics to find the right balance, maximizing the benefits of daylight while minimizing its drawbacks.
Whether your priority is code compliance, improved energy use, or enhanced occupant comfort, we deliver integrated solutions that support your vision, protect your investment, and increase the value of your asset.
Speak with a daylight modeling expert
system control room
Energy and water conservation and waste reduction
Great buildings don’t guess. They leverage modeling and data to their advantage. RWDI provides powerful, location-specific modeling tools to help you design energy and water systems that meet performance targets and protect your bottom line. We show how every design decision, from system choices to occupant behavior, affects operating costs, efficiency, and certification outcomes.
Our versatile energy and water models allow rapid prototyping, letting you test strategies early, identify the best-performing options, and move forward with confidence. Our practical waste reduction strategies cut construction waste, streamline material use, and improve operational waste management. Whether you’re targeting LEED, net-zero, or simply looking to cut utility bills, we deliver the insight to reduce consumption, streamline certification, and ensure your systems perform in real-world conditions.
Speak with an energy & water modeling expert
United States
San Diego Convention Center
Insightful direction advances a convention center’s goal of continuous sustainability improvements
United States
Banfield Pet Hospital Corporate Headquarters
Corporate headquarters safeguards wellness for people, pets, and community
United States
Kaiser Westside Medical Center
A healthcare facility designed for patient well-being and environmental sustainability
FAQs about our sustainable building services
Still have questions? Contact us.
Climate- based metrics —such as useful daylight illuminance (UDI), daylight autonomy (DA), and spatial and continuous daylight autonomy (sDA, cDA)—consider the performance of a space over an entire year, under changing sky conditions. Climate-based metrics allow designers to easily and visually interpret large data sets of calculated illuminance levels. Such statistics are now required for achieving LEED daylight credits and WELL certification.
These metrics can also highlight periods and spaces that receive uncomfortable levels of natural light.
For these situations, glare studies are often desirable. We simulate luminance levels, working from the occupants’ perspective, and assess the likelihood of undesirable glare effects. We can also test mitigation measures from the same perspective. Our goal is to avoid the least desirable design choice: relying on occupants to close blinds. We strive to create robust daylight designs that work with little maintenance and occupant intervention.
Yes, our reports include a clear summary of trade-offs and opportunities, along with quantified assessments of risks, reliability, and strategies for resiliency. For example, we can help you answer specific questions such as: Will we need more air conditioning if we make all of the windows 10% larger?
RWDI is a member of the Building Commissioning Association (BCA), and our engineering staff hold various qualifications including Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA) by the Associated Air Balance Council (AABC) Commissioning Group (ACG), ASHRAE Building Commissioning Professional (BCxP), and AEE Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP).
We adhere to industry-leading standards, including:
- ASHRAE Guideline 0.2
- ASHRAE Guideline 1 – The HVAC Commissioning Process
- CSA Z320 – Building Commissioning Standard
- NIBS Guideline 3 for Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx)
- LEED Commissioning
Throughout the certification process, our consultants are fully integrated with the design team, participating in regular coordination meetings, conducting site and shop drawings reviews, completing compliance documentation and liaising with the certification party at project closeout.
We currently offer:
- Building code compliance
- Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx)
- Energy Audits
- Measurement and Verification
- Building Analytics
- Ongoing Monitoring
- Functional Testing
Insights from our industry experts
How Balcony Design Can Impact Building Sustainability
Better Balconies offers a comprehensive look at the technical aspects of balcony design
RWDI Unveils ClimateFirst Software: Transforming Climate-Risk Assessments and Resiliency Planning
RWDI launches ClimateFirst, a cutting-edge software solution designed to revolutionize climate-risk management in the real estate sector.
