By Robert Crowe

Edgar Farrera, director of sustainable design for Marmon Mok Architecture, says performance measurement ensures his clients that going green is far more than feel-good platitudes.

“We want to be sure our solutions will have real benefits,” says Farrera. “Once you define a goal, you can use metrics to determine, ‘Am I actually conserving energy and water?’”

While overseeing Marmon Mok’s sustainability strategies, Farrera conducts cost-and-benefit analyses, evaluates green solutions, keeps up with emerging technologies and evaluates documentation for certification in LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Outside of the office, Farrera serves as advocacy chair for the Central Texas Balconies Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and he is a member of AIA San Antonio’s Committee on the Environment.

“He is a tireless advocate for sustainability who is professionally always focused on being on the cutting-edge of architectural innovations,” says Torrey Carleton, executive director of AIA San Antonio, the local chapter of The American Institute of Architects.

LEED projects Farrera has helped Marmon Mok develop include the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, City of San Antonio Parman Branch Library, Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center and the Mission Road Ministries facility.

Farrera was the project designer of the Girl Scouts’ facility, which features a unique water-and-condensate collection system. While he does not get to design as much these days, Farrera brings unity of purpose to the Marmon Mok staff, which includes 18 LEED-certified employees, or about half of the firm’s technical staff.

Farrera taught design at the University of Texas at San Antonio College of Architecture in 2006. He continues to emphasize education and advocacy of green building within the firm, and he reinforces that leadership role by speaking regularly and writing articles.

Farrera thinks of LEED, a voluntary green rating system, as a quality control process.

 “Its criteria may not be perfect, but its validity is that it is based on current research and building science,” Farrera says.

The International Green Construction Code (IGCC), now in draft form, could make mandatory green construction codes for cities that choose to adopt it, he says. San Antonio was among the first large U.S. cities to adopt the 2009 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which increases minimum standards for energy efficiency.

“San Antonio has absolutely gotten on board in terms of sustainability,” he says. “It is amazing for me to see that transformation happen here in 10 years.”

Farrera, a 46-year-old, married father of six, joined Marmon Mok in 2002 after moving to San Antonio from Austin, where he spent nine years designing small- and medium-sized buildings for Barlier & Pfeiffer, an early pioneer in sustainable architecture.

“It was there that I began to develop a deeper understanding of the principals of green building and related issues,” he says.

Farrera graduated from University of Texas at Austin in 1989 with a degree in architecture. He was born in San Antonio, but his parents, both architects from Mexico City, raised him in Austin and Houston.

ROBERT CROWE is a San Antonio freelance writer.