As we celebrate 50 years of GRLA in 2026, this Earth Day offers an opportunity to reflect—not just on where we’ve been, but on how thoughtful, sustainable design continues to shape a more resilient future for our clients and communities.
Where It Started
Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Hopkinton, MA
Long before sustainability became standard practice, GRLA’s leadership was helping shape the conversation. While studying at the Boston Architectural College in the 1970’s, Scott Richardson and his peers helped found the Sustainable Product Clearinghouse, an early effort to promote environmentally responsible materials and design.
That mindset carried into GRLA’s earliest projects, including active and passive solar homes developed during the energy crisis, work that laid the foundation for our ongoing focus on building performance and environmental responsibility
Scott has continued to advance this mission through teaching, advocacy, and participation in initiatives like The Climate Reality Project, helping to educate communities on the urgency of reducing carbon emissions.
As GRLA has grown as a firm, so too has the firm’s commitment to reducing energy use and focusing on sustainability and climate resiliency issues. GRLA has completed many high-performing sustainable projects including LEED Platinum, Gold, Silver and Certified projects. In 2012, GRLA joined the AIA 2030 Commitment, aligning our work with an industry-wide goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the built environment.
Key Sustainable Projects
Subaru of New England Corporate Headquarters
Norwood, MA | 165,000 SF
LEED Platinum
EMC Corporate Headquarters
Hopkinton, MA | 650,000 SF
LEED Gold
Liberty Mutual Office Building
Dover, NH | 350,000 SF
LEED Gold
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Building
Lawrence, MA | 33,000 SF
LEED Silver
Worcester Innovation Center
Worcester, MA 140,000 SF
LEED Certified | Adaptive Re-Use Project
How We Design Today
Subaru of New England HQ, Norwood, MA
Today, sustainability at GRLA is driven by the integration of architecture, interiors, and building envelope science, bringing performance and design together from the earliest stages of every project.
To strengthen this integration, we established the role of Integrated Services Project Manager—ensuring continuous knowledge sharing, rigorous QA/QC, and alignment between design intent and building performance.
Our team currently includes seven LEED Accredited Professionals, one Certified Passive House Consultant, and multiple certified building envelope specialists (BECxp, CxA+BE, RRO). GRLA is committed to staff education and certification to ensure every project team has a sustainability advocate and the expertise to achieve measurable results.
Building performance rating systems like LEED and the AIA 2030 Commitment help guide our work, but our approach goes beyond any single rating system
Responsive site design and building massing for access to daylight and views, shading, and reduced site impact.
High-performance envelopes with minimal thermal bridging, careful detailing that controls air and moisture, using durable materials and assemblies which can be easily maintained over a long service life.
Efficient, all-electric building systems eliminate fossil fuel consumption and emissions while providing advanced control and smart features which can be easily powered by on or off-site renewable energy and storage, ready to connect to the smart-grid of the future.
What We’re Building Toward
“When we started GRLA, sustainability wasn’t a trend or a checklist—it was common sense. We were responding to real challenges, thinking carefully about energy, materials, and performance. To see that same mindset not only endure, but evolve and strengthen over 50 years, is incredibly rewarding. It’s become part of who we are as a firm.” Scott Richardson, GRLA Principal and Cofounder
Looking ahead to our next 50 years, GRLA is focused on delivering renewable-powered, net-zero buildings across all sectors.
Through initiatives like our AIA 2030 Lunch Series, we are equipping our teams—and our clients—with the tools to design, measure, and deliver low-energy, high-performance buildings. This initiative also aims to support our design teams in engaging clients in the important conversations around the impact their building projects have on the planet, their people, and the bottom line.
We believe sustainable design isn’t defined by a certification checklist—it’s about making better decisions on every project. Whether a project is large or small, new construction or renovation, we work with clients to identify meaningful opportunities to improve performance and reduce environmental impact.
GRLA stands ready to deliver forward-thinking, high-performance design solutions—balancing cost, performance, and long-term value.
Let’s build a future that meets today’s needs without compromising tomorrow.