To say L&S Engineering Associates Inc. in Spokane is committed to environmentally friendly engineering and sustainable design is an understatement. The company's every marketing move, and commercial, residential and civic project, presents an opportunity to both display its green credentials and develop relationships with local businesses and the community.

And every detail, no matter how small, counts. "Several years ago, we changed our company's logo to include the tag line 'High Performance Design,'" says Dale Shafer, president of L&S Engineering. "This was deliberately done to emphasize our commitment to sustainable designs that perform on a higher level than normal."

L&S Engineering provides a variety of services related to the engineering and construction of commercial, educational, medical, governmental and industrial buildings. It is a small, private and profitable company, with 25 employees and a portfolio of several high-profile projects, including renovation of the 100- year-old Saranac Hotel building in downtown Spokane. The company designed the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems for the Saranac renovation, as well as the automatic and environmental controls that run those systems. These green improvements are expected to help reduce the building's energy consumption by 80 percent. And the building is slated to receive the U.S. Green Building Council's Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

In fact, L&S Engineering is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, the nonprofit dedicated to sustainable building design and construction. Also, seven of the company's engineers are certified under LEED, a rating system that measures efforts to construct buildings that conserve water, reduce energy costs and improve indoor air quality.

Although the company is small, it has positioned itself in a growing business. The annual U.S. market in green building products and services exceeded $7 billion in 2005 and was nearing $12 billion in 2007. Washington's economic growth and L&S Engineering's green reputation helped the company add five young staff members last year, Shafer says. "We had identified this as a critical need for our continued success," he says.

The 59-year-old Shafer grew up in the Monroe and Bellingham areas. He holds a degree in engineering physics from Northwest Nazarene University. He is a Christian. He cares about the future of the planet. He views his company as a vehicle for doing the right thing. "Being good stewards of all God's creation is an important value for me and my partners," Shafer says. "Part of living by the 'Golden Rule' includes providing a healthy and sustainable environment for our children and other members of the human race."