Local Practice

Biophilic Cities: Or How I Learned To Start Loving Where I Live

As the sustainable revolution motors along, I can’t help but wonder why it is taking so long to really catch on. What is holding back people like you and me and our neighbors from making it a priority? I don’t mean buying recycled paper towels.  This, while helpful,  slightly more expensive and a little less effective on spilled juice, is definitely not going to save our planet from…

Suburban Retrofit: Consumption vs. Production

  We all accept that any home built before 1980 probably consumes energy rather than produces. And we know that most buildings today aren’t much better. Some dabble in industry-tested, user-approved microcosms of water conservation and energy production, and even fewer have thrown away the sound bites of “first cost” and “investment return” and have dove head first into responsible yet expensive…

Many of us turn a few knobs and, miraculously, hot water comes out without much thought other than our energy and water bills. However, the water that ends up in the drain retains a certain about of embodied energy that is capable of being recovered. This water is now technically graywater, but you’ve paid valuable money for the energy used to raise its temperature. It makes sense to recapture…

100% Renewable Energy With The Click Of A Button

What if everyone could make 1 simple change in their personal habits that would, as a whole, benefit a larger population? First, we instinctively ask ourselves the question (no matter how large our green flag may be): what do I have to give up to make this happen? And if ultimately we can manage the risk, we may accept the proposition. This is the challenge for today’s green energy suppliers. In…

Mobile Device Solar Charging Station

It’s seems that at the moment we are coming closer to achieving 100% 24/7. It’s nothing new and it’s not shocking. However it is certainly convenient. One can argue whether convenience has ever truly been as present as it is today (every generation has always been the most advanced in history). But right now certainly seems pretty slick. And yet there will always be a small part in most of us…

Advanced Framing is Pretty Simple

  To the untrained eye, this image may look fairly conventional. However, this home, and many others, are the product of the quickly advancing industry of building science. You’re looking at a growing trend called advanced framing, also called (OVE) optimum value engineering,  that is responsible for lowering construction cost and improving building performance.  Developed in the 1960′s by the…

  Photo by Chelsea Proulx

  We recently spent some time in the charming old town of New Haven, CT. While previously, New Haven held a sense a professional responsibility, with the occasional apertif, this visit was different, and a little more personal. We came back for a small visit and to get married in the gloriously picturesque Edgerton Park, with a simple reception at Barcelona Wine Bar.  We…

Abandon or Embrace: Sea Level Rise and Coastal Populations

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By now both sides of the story are painfully clear: 1) we are responsible, 2.) the planet is responsible. And then there are the skeptics. Either way sea level rise has been getting a lot of attention lately. However, it seems this polemic argument is very near-sighted. One side trying to raise awareness, the other trying calm the alarm. Each focused on proving a point, which takes time…

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If you like buzzwords, it’s hard to beat Prefab + Sustainability, maybe throw a “Green” in there somewhere. Honestly though, trends play a critical role in society’s readiness to adopt large-large scale transitions. These widely accessible words, thoughts or actions can become influential in politics and economics, which ultimately can lead to convention. This will occur whether or not we…

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The most sustainable square foot is the one you don’t build. As long as we have had materials and the need for shelter, we have faced each day with the intent to do things and make stuff, especially when it comes to tending to our nest. Mostly without much thought regarding actual need or actual impact. Which is why the thought of small architecture is so entertaining. For very little…

Rethink Zinc: An Eco-Friendly Architectural Metal

Image courtesy of Gail Whitney Karn at RHEINZINK

You may not immediately think of the word “sustainability” when considering metal as an exterior cladding material. This is in part due to the harmful processes by which metals are extracted, fabricated and then treated. This can lead to destruction of local ecology by extraction, factory emissions and byproducts and ultimately depending on the…

Natural Wood Siding With 30×40 Design Workshop

Design Workshop: Natural Wood Siding Minus the Maintenance

  Here is a great article by Eric Reinholdt at 30×40 Design Workshop regarding the beauty and responsibility of letting wood be what it wants to be. He maintains a rational, sustainable perspective stating that:

Rejecting this unending cycle of maintenance and accepting weathering as part of a home’s design aesthetic makes good…