Why We Do It
We face unprecedented risks from runaway climate change, and many of the problems — and solutions — are in our cities, where buildings consume 40% of energy and produce an even larger share of carbon emissions. Today’s construction methods are not going to solve this problem, which is why we build things differently. We are building communities for the future — communities that are resilient, sustainable, and actually make us healthier.
How We Do It
Sustainability is breaking the mold, reinventing the process, and above all, seeing opportunity where others see adversity. We focus on rebuilding urban neighborhoods, which like our namesake hum with untapped energy, and we believe that this energy should be put to work to create more sustainable, healthier, and equitable communities. We approach problems differently by thinking outside the box and enjoy partnering with others to chart a better course.
01. Human-Centered Design
Human-centered design is about creating places where people experience delight and inspiration. We draw on the best of historic design precedents, from Palladio to Louis Sullivan, and also take inspiration from the beautiful places around us.
02. Scientific Curiosity
Our world is being remade by technology. We embrace advances in building science and believe that innovation should play a leading role in building better communities.
03. Partnership
Partnerships allow us to do what we can't do alone. We work with others who also want to make a difference: engineers, architects, community groups. Let’s solve problems together.
What We Do
Flywheel Development is a leading sustainable development company. We are active in real estate, solar development, and stormwater management infrastructure. We bring strong leadership to our core activities and successfully implement ambitious energy and health-based targets. We use an integrated approach to problem solving and are committed to continual research and development of advanced solutions that can both add value and reduce complexity in a space where turning to complex solutions is often the norm.
01. High-performance
Building
Flywheel builds net zero energy buildings that have dramatically lower utility bills. We lower energy bills by 80% with energy efficiency, and make up the difference by covering rooftops with solar power. These are homes for the future.
02. Green infrastructure:
Solar & Stormwater
Sometimes the biggest difference is made between the big things that have already been done. Flywheel develops and builds solar energy systems that contribute to energy resiliency, and installs stormwater-retaining rain gardens to capture stormwater, keeping rainfall from rushing into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.
03. Innovation through
Research & Development
Flywheel actively embraces ongoing R&D, advocacy, and leadership. We want to share best practices, lessons learned, and help mainstream net zero energy development. Unless we all build better buildings and accelerate adoption of renewable energy, we will have far worse problems to deal with.
Communities are what happen between the buildings.
History
Flywheel was formed in 2014 with the goal of positively impacting communities in the Washington, DC region by creating resilient, equitable, and healthy buildings. Since our founding, our vision has expanded to include partnering with communities to build green infrastructure — solar and stormwater. The company’s principals have diverse backgrounds in real estate development, renewable energy infrastructure, city planning, and public policy.
Our visionary, responsive projects are informed by partnerships with neighborhood groups. Because communities are what happen between the buildings, we believe the final product should be informed by the neighborhood and its residents.
As we’ve gotten started, our work has focused on smaller, more challenging sites, which has reinforced our belief that well-designed projects have the ability to knit together urban neighborhoods and create vital spaces for surrounding communities.
Much of our current real estate work, including the CycleHouse and Stack Eight projects, is focused on the creation of affordable housing. These projects will be models for change for both affordable and market-rate development, promoting health and equity alongside the environmental responsibility that is achieved with net zero energy construction.
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