ALINE Architecture Concepts is committed to doing business in a way that is environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and supports a vibrant local economy in our community. The content has been agreed upon by the team who will work together to ensure the policy becomes a part of how ALINE conducts business.

Goals: The principles of ALINE are: To craft meaningful environments that inspire people and enhance their community, as well as help nonprofits and the local community- all while creating sustainability and protecting our environment in the process. As such, we are focusing on the following areas:

Examples:

• Energy conservation- it Is important we do everything we can to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. We encourage our clients and push for our projects to have efficient lighting design systems, use natural light to reduce artificial light needs, incorporate solar panels, efficient mechanical systems to reduce energy needs, etc.
• Water conservation- Water is our most precious resource and living in the desert we need to respect the fact that majority of Phoenix water comes from elsewhere. We design our projects to use low flow fixtures, waterless urinals, desert appropriate landscaping, rain harvesting, tankless water heaters and more
• Local sourcing- Continuing to provide support to local businesses for materials and services. We feel it is extremely important to support local and build our economy. Why ship materials and products from oversees when we can make it and source it right here in Arizona or the United States
• Community engagement- Choosing projects that enhance and provide support for our surrounding community. We work every year with local non-profits to offer our services. We support groups that create positive impacts for our community
• Paper product consumption- Monitoring and adjusting our use in the office. We are moving architecture to be 100% digital. No brochures or unneeded marketing materials. No large rolls of plans sitting on shelfs!

Tangible Measures: In order to meet our goals, we have come up with specific measures in each category that will reduce negative impacts on the environment and the community:

• Waste diversion
  • Working with local groups to upcycle single use local plastics into 3D printed architectural materials
  • Upcycling of buildings! We approach every remodel with the mindset to repurpose and upcycle the building and materials. Construction waste is one of the biggest contributors to landfill waste. If we can reduce the amount of demolition, we can greatly reduce waste in our landfills
  • Providing recycling with signage so that employees and clients can engage in the process of properly diverting waste, with an emphasis on recycling
  • Reducing the use of single-use plastics in the office, such as single-use water bottles
  • Repurpose of construction banners into reusable totes
  • Going towards 100% digital to reduce paper consumption
• Continuing education
  • Managers, staff, owners, etc., are encouraged to attend classes, webinars, and events about environmentalism, sustainable project planning, conservation, etc.
• Water conservation
  • Use of native and climate-adapted low-water use plants in the office and in the design of our projects, which also promotes healthy ecosystems
• Energy conservation
  • Use of sunshades in the office to help control indoor temperatures and reduce electricity demands
  • Use of LED lighting in the office and designs to reduce energy costs and consumption
  • Turning off workstations and lighting at night to reduce energy use
• Local sourcing
  • For business support services such as accounting, printing, distributors, etc., we will seek out local and independently owned business to keep dollars circulating in our local economy
  • Collaboration with local consultants, artist, craftsman, and producers to strengthen our local businesses

Goals and Future Plans: While ALINE currently works on improving its sustainable practices, we are looking to work towards future improvements and changes, and to develop projects that will further improve our self-reliance and transform the way we do business.

Examples:

1. Paper consumption: As a team, we plan to continue to reduce paper consumption by moving towards 100% digital files and media in the office. We also reuse scrap paper to reduce paper needs
2. Recycling Plastics: We are committed to researching how to recycle single use plastics into filament so we can 3D print architectural materials, which are used in many of our current and future projects
3. Towards zero waste: We continually evaluate the products we use so that nothing is sent to the landfill. We will take a creative approach to analyzing our waste stream to see where materials can be recycled, upcycled, donated, composted, etc.
4. Net Zero Design: working with our consultants and clients to have more our projects be Net Zero and not need to use energy from the grid
5. Green design practices; implementing more standards from Living Building Challenge, LEED, Green Globe and Well Building

As the environment continually changes around us, ALINE Architectural Concepts is committed to continue to preserve, reduce, source, and engage in areas of our production as a business to provide support for our local community, while simultaneously protecting our environment in the process.

Signed by:
The ALINE Team