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Development Portfolio

Author Archive

NC Sustainable Energy Association’s 2020 Project of the Year

Firstfloor/SfL+a Architects are so excited to announce that the Jones County New K-12 School won the Project of the Year…

Firstfloor Wins 2020 ENR Southeast Award

Engineering News-Record, the leading trade publication for engineering and construction professionals, has announced the winners of its ENR’s Southeast 2020…

Jones County New PK-12 School Featured on eduChalkboard

Flexible learning environments are paramount in K-12 educational facility design. This article features why our energy-positive, new Jones New PK-12…

Firstfloor Energy Positive | Meet Jerry Marshall

Meet Jerry Marshall, Energy Manager at Firstfloor Energy Positive. We sat down with Jerry and our Energy Positive Program Manager,…

Firstfloor Energy Positive | Meet James Rice

Meet James Rice, Energy Positive Manager at Firstfloor Energy Positive. We sat down with James and our Energy Manager, Jerry…

Media Construction Tour at the New Pk-12 School in Jones County, NC

Students in Jones County, North Carolina are one step closer to attending school in a brand new facility. Firstfloor Energy…

Earning the Energy Grade – Overcoming Challenges to Achieve Zero Energy in Schools

Two of our energy positive schools clients, Horry County Schools and Hoke County Schools, are featured in the Spring 2019…

Firstfloor Horry County Schools: Hear from the Students

The new Firstfloor Horry County, energy positive schools have already taught students so much about energy and the impact their…

FirstFloor Horry County Schools: Features

FirstFloor Horry County schools include Socastee Middle School, Socastee Elementary School, St. James Intermediate School, Ten Oaks Middle School and…

FirstFloor Horry County Schools: Student Impact

The five new energy positive FirstFloor Horry County schools (Socastee Middle School, Socastee Elementary School, St. James Intermediate School, Ten…

Editorial: How North Carolina is cutting school construction costs!

A great news editorial featuring our energy positive school, Sandy Grove Middle School, in Hoke County, NC.   https://bit.ly/2Hux4Py

Understanding HVAC at Myrtle Beach Middle School

The energy-wise club at Myrtle Beach Middle School (Horry County Schools) tells us about the centralized geothermal system at their…

Understanding the Building Envelope

EnergyWise students invite James Rice from Firstfloor Energy Positive to explain how building envelope is designed and constructed at Socastee…

What’s a Watt? Understanding Energy Data

Students at St. James Intermediate School in Horry County Schools, SC learn about energy data and terms with Jerry Marshall…

Energy Positive Schools vs. Net Zero School: What’s the Difference?

When classifying a building, many people use the terms “energy positive” and “net zero” interchangeably. What most do not realize…

Inside Look: Firstfloor Horry County Schools

Horry County, SC, a county the size of the state of Delaware, needed 8 replacement schools in order to continue…

Firstfloor Energy Positive: 2018 Highlights

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  -Winston Churchill We’ve spun…

Energy Positive Schools: Defining the Community Impact of Zero Energy Schools

In several states across the country, school districts are realizing the benefits of zero energy schools and their impact on…

Two Horry County Schools Honored with Architectural and Interior Design Awards

Learning By Design, the nation’s premier source for education design innovation and excellence, has announced that two Horry County schools…

Firstfloor and SfL+a Featured in ASCENT Magazine

SfL+a Architects and Firstfloor were featured in two articles in Ascent Magazine’s Summer 2018 edition, How Precast Builds K-12 Schools:…

Firstfloor Energy Positive Wins ‘Best Projects’ Award in 18th Annual ENR Southeast Competition

Engineering News-Record, the leading trade publication for engineering and construction professionals, has announced the winners of its 18th annual Best…

Energy Positive Schools: Sandy Grove Middle School

It’s been 12 years since the concept of Sandy Grove Middle School originated. Since then, SfL+a Architects and Firstfloor Energy…

Energy Positive Schools: Benefits to Student Health and Safety

  How do we empower the engineers of the future? By getting them involved with the tech of today. At…

Jones County New PK-12 School: Construction Update

Construction on the new energy-positive PK-12 school in Jones County began 7 months ago. The building is on schedule to…

Hollow-Core Concrete Plank Floor and Roof Systems: What Are They? What Do They Offer? And They Save Money?

Innovation is a core value for SfL+a Architects and Firstfloor. We study the newest technologies, select the most efficient systems,…

Two Energy Positive Schools in Horry County Honored

SfL+a Architects and Firstfloor Energy Positive (Firstfloor) announce that two Horry County public schools have been awarded nominations under the…

Largest zero-energy office building in the Southeast U.S. planned in Raleigh!

Check out this great article written about our City Gateway Project! https://bit.ly/2Io71Ke

Wake County’s Ticket to Success

By: Robbie Ferris AIA, REFP, LEED AP CEO – SfL+a Architects/Firstfloor Be the change you want to see in the…

Robbie Ferris Named Top 25 Newsmaker by ENR

Architect Robbie Ferris is on a mission to alter radically the delivery model and performance of K-12 schools https://www.enr.com/articles/43785-architects-energy-positive-k-12-schools-offer-a-twist

Hollow-core smart floors save energy in new Horry County schools!

Check out this feature on the hollow-core system in our Horry County Schools projects. The design allows the schools to use…

Firstfloor Energy Positive Begins Groundbreaking on New Energy Positive Leased PK-12 School in North Carolina

Students in Jones County, North Carolina are one step closer to attending school in a brand new facility. Firstfloor Energy…

Feature on Horry County Schools

New area schools offer energy-positive buildings, cutting-edge technology and the opportunity for innovative learning! Read the full article here.  

Understanding “Net Positive” – Ten Oaks Middle School

EnergyWise students invite Jordon Holcomb from Optima Engineering to explain how solar panels at Ten Oaks Middle provide electricity and…

Understanding Lighting – Socastee Elementary School

EnergyWise students invite James Rice from Firstfloor Energy Positive to explain how lighting design at Socastee Elementary contributes to the energy…

Better Than Bake Sale Funding for Capital Projects

Horry County Schools and Robbie Ferris are featured in the latest issue of School Planning & Management. Check it out…

North Carolina Middle School Is Energy Positive

Sandy Grove Middle School featured in the September/October issue of Roofing magazine. http://www.pageturnpro.com/Progress-Printing/80701-SeptOct17/default.html#page/84 Quote from Robbie Ferris, First Floor Manager,…

New Energy Positive Schools in Horry County Schools

Inside 5 New Energy Positive Schools

Insights from CEO Robert W. Ferris and Firstfloor Energy Positive about the value of energy positive schools and their community….

Meet Sandy Grove Middle School

The Nation’s first energy positive, LEED Gold certified, leased public school. Sandy Grove Middle School produces 40% more energy than…

Meet Our CEO and President, Robbie Ferris

Robbie Ferris, First Floor CEO and President, has wanted to be in this industry ever since he was a little…

Our Partner, SfL+a Architects Named Southeast Design Firm of the Year

ENR editors choose SfL+a Architects as the Southeast Design Firm of the Year for their efforts and achievements related to…

SfL+a supports Build Better Schools Movement

Join us, let’s #BuildBetterSchools Many of our public-school buildings in rural North Carolina are run down and outdated due to…

Sandy Grove Middle School featured in WRAL News!

Sandy Grove Middle School, the Nation’s Most Energy Efficient school, has recently been featured in WRAL News. Get a quick…

Upcoming City Gateway featured in Triangle Business Journal!

Plans, renderings unveiled for 10-story downtown Raleigh building project – with Exploris School Written by Amanda Hoyle,  from Triangle Business…

Sandy Grove Middle School Recognized as Zero Energy Building

SfL+a Architects has announced that Sandy Grove Middle School in Hoke County has been recognized as a verified zero energy…

Sandy Grove wins National Best Award from ENR!

Sandy Grove Middle School received an ENR National Best Award in the K-12 Educational Project Category! We were thrilled to…

Sandy Grove Featured for ENR Best Projects

Sandy Grove’s Award for 2013 Best Project in the K12 Category by ENR Southeast was featured recently in the Triangle…

Sandy Grove Middle School Raises the Bar for Sustainability

Sandy Grove Middle School is published in the latest edition of the North Carolina Construction news! Possibly the most detailed…

Hoke School a Design Worth Copying

Last week, a fantastic little article came out in the Fayetteville Observer titled “Our View: Hoke School a Design Worth…

Sandy Grove Middle School Provides Real-Life Lessons in Conservation

A recent article in the Fayetteville Observer about Sandy Grove Middle School shares some of the inspiring elements about how…

Sandy Grove in American School & University

[spacer size=”5″] We are so excited to see Sandy Grove Middle School featured on American School & University’s website! The…

New Math at Middle School = Net +

A fantastic article in the September edition of the USGBC Newsletter about Sandy Grove Middle School and the wonderful energy…

Thomas Hughes in the News

Our very own Thomas Hughes contributed to an interesting news article looking in depth at the problems of overcrowding in…

Sandy Grove Wins 2013 Best Project by ENR Southeast

We are proud to announce that Sandy Grove Middle School in Lumber Bridge, NC has won ENR Southeast’s “2013 Best…

Inhabitat Features Sandy Grove

Check out this great article by inhabitat featuring Sandy Grove Middle School!  The article focuses on the fact that Sandy…

Triangle BizBlog talks about Sandy Grove

Sandy Grove Middle School was featured in the Triangle BizBlog this past week focusing on the collaboration of companies within…

Triangle Business Journal Article

  Great article in the Triangle Business Journal about an exciting SfL+a Architects/FirstFloor project, Sandy Grove Middle School! Check it…

Join Us for a Grand Opening Celebration!

Construction Today Blog

This blog post by Construction Today was written back in May, but with the Grand Opening of Sandy Grove coming…

SfL+a Ranks on ENR Southeast Top Design Firms

We are excited to announce that we were listed in the ENR Southeast Top Design Firms for 2013! OVERALL RANKING:…

Contact

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Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
P: 919.573.6350 / F: 919.573.6355