In 2007, Matarozzi Pelsinger Builders worked out of a loft-like industrial space in the Mission that lacked sufficient air flow on the handful of warm San Francisco days.  During those San Francisco “heat waves,” we had to haul out 6’ tall industrial fans in a feeble attempt to move the air.  With the fans howling, [...]

Most households in the U.S. use natural gas to heat water. Other fuel types include electricity, propane, and heating oil. A typical gas storage water heater has an Energy Factor (efficiency rating) of about 0.6, while a typical electric storage water heater will be rated about 0.9. Based on these Energy Factors it would seem [...]

In 1943 Herbert and Katherine Jacobs, of Madison, Wisconsin, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for them for the second time.  The first they had built in 1936, the design that became known as “Usonian I” (or Jacobs I), a home that featured low cost construction, an open interior plan, floor-to-ceiling living room [...]

41 years ago Denis Hayes, a young activist with a vision for a post-carbon energy future, organized the first Earth Day. That day of celebration and teach-ins was my first realization of how the resource flows through buildings impact the land, air and water. I grew up with a great appreciation for the indigenous earth, [...]

8 dwellings 145-151 Laurel St. Northern Liberties, Philadelphia 2009 The first LEED for Homes Platinum duplex residences in the U.S.A. This eight unit residential project explores the highly efficient and architecturally latent potentials hidden within the traditional form of the Philadelphia “Row” home. The vertical rhythm, regularity yet diversity of this most prevalent residential urban [...]

  LOST IN THE SHADOWS For me, using LEDs as task lighting is still a developing technology. I am very happy with the lumen output that we are starting to see now, along with the color quality. I personally lean towards a warmer color tone that is close to that of incandescent (2700° Kelvin), but [...]

Perched on a knoll at the edge of the bay, the Heron’s Head EcoCenter is a welcome beacon in the gritty, industrial landscape of Bayview/Hunters Point.  The green roof, reclaimed wood exterior siding, and restored wetlands offer clues to the native ecology of the place, and hint at innovative systems that make the project self-sufficient.  [...]

You’ve probably heard of LEED, (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and maybe if you’re in California you have heard of GreenPoint Rated or the eminent CALGreen Code, but wrapping your head around how these standards compare and what they mean to your building project can be a big task.  In this article, I’ll try [...]

From time to time, the Editors of Green Architecture Notes turn the spotlight on businesses where sustainable products or technologies have been implemented in a move toward a more environmentally-conscious practice. Mueller Nicholls, a General Contractor and Cabinet Shop in Oakland, California, is one such business which is leading by example through a pioneering effort to [...]

My wife, Cathy, and I really liked our one-story cottage near downtown Palo Alto, but the floor plan didn’t work for us at all. The most direct path to the backyard was through the master bedroom, and loving to backyard-entertain as we do, running through our bedroom with plates of meat headed to the grill [...]