Grant Street house Most buildings leak air, and therefore heat, through cracks in their building envelope.  We get cold in our leaky buildings and turn up our heaters to keep warm.  The heat continues to leak out, and we continue to turn up our heaters, and on and on the cycle goes.  In the end, [...]

photo: Binder Holz The San Francisco Bay Area is rich with examples of Green Architecture, and is arguably on the forefront of the green building movement. Many people here have heard of the Passive House Standard, but not many really know what it is or how it works. In essence the term “passive house” represents [...]

  As architects, we weave the complexities of program, design, regulations, technology, budget and fee, while managing clients, projects, and liability. Proposed changes to our workflow frequently interrupt our momentum. Changes to our design process that seem burdensome ultimately transform our work and improve our buildings.  The process of commissioning is new to many of [...]

  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 [...]

My first exposure to waste diversion on a jobsite was a response to LEED requirements. Of all the standards we had to meet, practices we had to modify, and requirements we had to satisfy waste diversion presented the most tangible upside – across the board. It’s obvious, too. Once you have modified your waste handling [...]

With the official launch of LEED for Homes in February of 2008, we were already consulting on several custom LEED-H pilot projects. We provide LEED-H “Representative” services through the LEED-H “Provider” in California, Davis Energy Group. The Representative is similar to having a LEED consultant on a LEED-NC project, except there is a strict limitation [...]

 As designers and implementers of designn, we know that integrated design theoretically makes sense.  However, when it comes to installing renewable energy systems, it is more and more critical that we actually put theory into action.  So I’d like to go through a couple of real world examples of what can happen (or not happen) [...]

1. The weak economy will greatly reduce new construction starts in the short-term, but coming out of the recession there will be enormous pent-up demand for new green product. 2. A significant number of green projects are still in the pipeline (under construction), and USGBC reports a large backlog of completed green buildings awaiting certification. [...]