About us

Built Environment Graphic
Bill Chaleff and Paul Rogers have been partners designing sustainable architecture in the Hamptons since 1985.  Bill Chaleff designed his first solar home in 1975.  They shared a belief in the importance of designing buildings in an environmentally responsive way long before it became popular to practice “Green” Architecture.

The firm has built over 300 energy efficient homes employing concepts such as true passive solar design, state-of-the-art construction methods and materials and integrated thermal system engineering.  Bill has developed a unique system of
air-floor construction which he has incorporated into over 200 buildings.  He has also been designing with SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) since 1986.  See Bill's Blog & the SIPs Portfolio for more information on SIP construction.

It is the philosophy of this firm that each project is unique.  The design of the building is a response to the conditions of the site, the surrounding visual environment, and the historical contexts, as well as the building’s program.  Additionally, they hold that a good project delivers high value.

The built environment serves as the armature for our social landscape, and as stewards of the earth and people who care about the well-being of our current and future generations, we should build no less than the best of which we are capable.

Architecture from a "Green" Perspective

The classic list of Architectural Concerns, Firmness, Commodity, and Delight; was originated by Vitruvius in the first century B.C.  Many “Green” architects today would say that this list remains unchanged and that green architecture is the complete and thorough design and construction of excellent buildings, but there is more to it than that.

1.  Green architecture and planning changes our viewpoint from a static frame to a dynamic perspective.  Buildings are no longer objects in a 3-dimensional world, but now exist in an Einsteinian   4-dimensional world like everything else.  The point in time at which the Architectural Photographer snaps his picture is just another point along a continuum of activities which represent the creation and coming together of all the building materials and afterwards, the constant and continual evolution of the building as it continues to respond to the ever-changing requirements of time and place.

2.  Green architects and planners consider the environmental and social impact of the Built Environment.  The material artifacts of our society, created from our energy and material resources, once created may or may not cycle back easily into the same resource pool.  All components of our built environment – even though brought about by private capital – become part of our collective public realm.  The Built Environment Infrastructure becomes the armature for our Social Landscape.
 US Green Building Council LEED Member
3.  Mother Nature becomes the best model for Green Design, being efficient, performance-oriented, and beautiful.  Indigenous buildings serve as our historical link between the Designs of Nature and the Art of Mankind.  These buildings are the inspiration for the best works of green design and planning. 

4.  Green Building is the most economical building when all externalities are taken into account. Society can only afford Green technologies, built environment solutions, and patterns for the long run, other static and myopic solutions are unsustainable. 

5.  Green Buildings are Healthy and regenerative buildings that help grow our environment in sustainable fashion such that our resource base grows in diversity and depth, just as in Nature a healthy forest produces deeper and richer soil, a diverse biosphere of flora and fauna, and husbands our water and clean air resources. 

6.  Green Architects and Planners work in an integrated fashion, imitating the multi-tasking and diversity of Natural models. Tree trunks serve as both structure and nutritional highways; green buildings use materials to provide both structure and thermal comfort.