As a follow-up to a recent post on Heron’s Head EcoCenter, we caught up with Alex Rood of Fulcrum Structural Engineering to discuss his contributions to the project. For those who have not read our recent post on the project, Heron’s Head EcoCenter is San Francisco’s first off-the-grid educational facility and laboratory for sustainable design [...]

In previous posts, we have looked at the addition of a green roof over a garage at a residence located on a steep slope which provided the clients with a planted space in the front of the house.  In a second post, we looked at the implementation of a green roof as a key design [...]

On this Earth Day, I’d like to recognize a project that focuses our attention on critical issues and is also paired with the grace of elegant design. Water is one of the planet’s most vital and possibly one of the most endangered resources that life depends on.  Filtration plants come in all sizes and shapes [...]

I’ve had several reasons for designing living roofs and have faced many challenges in implementation. Luckily living roofs can come in many forms and serve many purposes. In this post, I will try to briefly walk you through the second of my forays into this exciting and challenging subject. For our House Ocho project in [...]

People often ask me to recommend the ‘greenest’ hardwood flooring option, expecting me to tell them to use reclaimed wood or Bamboo, and they’re shocked to hear my answer. After years of witnessing the impacts of our purchasing decisions on forests worldwide, I tell them to use FSC-certified tropical hardwood. Reclaimed wood and Bamboo are [...]

Comprising 70 percent of our bodies, covering 70 percent of our earth’s surface, and providing more than 50 percent of the world’s ‘renewable’ energy, water is also the ultimate adaptor: evaporating, condensing, crystallizing, icing, melting, flowing and filling, according to its environment. The beauty of water, and its emotional power as a latent energy force, [...]

 When excavation is required, take care to preserve existing top soils, to set them aside in the order in which they were removed. Value and protect site soils during the construction process and return them to the land as close to their original place as possible when construction allows. Cover site soils with organic mulch [...]

  It has become increasingly clear that the design and building of living roofs is making a transition from early adoption to mainstream application. Driven by environmental policy, economic necessity, and social responsibility there is increasing emphasis on a “living systems” approach to building and vegetation design. The designs integrate and complement mechanical and plumbing [...]

  Project Description for the Ningbo Eco-Corridor Location: Ningbo, China Scope of the Project The landscape architects, SWA Group, provided master planning and conceptual design services for the 250-acre metropolitan Eco-Corridor Park located in Ningbo’s East Town, an area of 6 square miles that currently includes a mixture of industrial and agricultural land uses.  The [...]

There are a number of exciting design trends that are quickly becoming mainstream in architecture and development around California.  Mostly due to the continuing drought and concerns over water availability, these trends are simply implemented and have an enormous impact on a broad scale.  One of the latest trends to receive publicity is the re-emergence [...]