Comments for green architecture notes

Comment on The Spirit of Earth Day: Revitalizing our communities by Ottawa home inspection

Ottawa home inspection — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:24:05 +0000

As we continue to find ourselves in a situation where natural resources are getting depleted at rapid rates, it becomes imperative that we consider as many options to bring ourselves closer to the environment, and to the use of eco-friendly, non-depleting resources as possible.

Comment on The Spirit of Earth Day: Revitalizing our communities by John Carroll

John Carroll — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:11:15 +0000

Hi Bridgett,

I love the attention on San Francisco’s parklet program, especially the 29th parklet referenced above as I was one of the organizers that helped see its creation. A few points of clarification though: it’s actually located in the Excelsior Neighborhood, not the Outer Mission. This is significant because it is the first Parklet in District 11, indeed in all of South East San Francisco. The Mission Neighborhood already has the most parklets of any neighborhood in the city–making additional ones there less exciting (of course, this is the opinion of an Excelsior Neighborhood member).

Also, in addition to the deep level of involvement of Out of Site’s high school students (a parklet first), this project is also very exciting because it is the first parklet to include a deep level of community involvement–organized by the Excelsior Action Group, my nonprofit, and co-sponsor of the parklet with OOS and Mama Art Cafe. This involvement took place in community meetings we hosted so that residents could review the designs created by the OOS students, community surveys we conducted to ensure that a parklet was something residents wanted in the first place, and opening up the parklet construction process to volunteers from the Excelsior Community (in addition to the OOS high school student construction interns)–making this the first truly community sponsored parklet in San Francisco. All this, in addition to the more mundane aspects of securing the permitting, half the funding, etc for the project.

Both of our organizations were also supported of the City of San Francisco, particularly the Office of Education and Workforce Development, which provided the majority of material funds for the project (through EAG), and the SF Planning Department, which really helped us through the permitting process. Indeed, one of the city planners even volunteered in the construction effort on 5 different days because he supported our project.

–John Carroll

Comment on Back to the Future by Jonathan Feldman

Jonathan Feldman — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:18:18 +0000

Rob,
Almost 20 years ago you taught me my first lessons on passive design and resource conservation in buildings. It’s great to see that you’re still at it and still have the ability to inspire!

Jonathan Feldman

Comment on THIN FLATS by Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:10:31 +0000

This is one of the best combination between green technology and modern design that I've ever seen. I hope all future designs are geared towards green features. I'm currently a student at The Academy of Art majoring in architecture. I will definitely use some of the ideas for sustainable elements. Thank you so much.

Comment on THIN FLATS by Jonathan Feldman

Jonathan Feldman — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:50:10 +0000

I’ve been admiring the design of this building since i first saw it published. But i had know idea it was pushing so far on the sustainability front. Got to love it when when all of those great ‘green’ features are apart of such a beautiful building!

Comment on Heron’s Head EcoCenter: Part 2 – Structural by Jill Moran

Jill Moran — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:24:31 +0000

Thanks for this article. I didn’t know about the challenging soil at this site, what a puzzle! I’m also a really big fan of Gerald Creed, so props to him for his part in making this work. I hope there’s a documentary about this whole process, it makes a great story.

Comment on San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Bus Shelters: A New [Design, Technology, Business] Model for green architecture by Vinay

Vinay — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:11:20 +0000

Really good design.

Comment on Cork: What makes this material so special? by Joanna Sheldon

Joanna Sheldon — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:54:37 +0000

We’re planning to use cork inside our old stone cottage in the UK and we’re wondering what provisions we have to make for condensation dripping from the outside of the corkboard (50mm) to the joists below. Some of the cork we plan to attach to battens, and some of it we intend to pin directly to the wall. We’ll plaster the cork directly.

Also, I’m looking for a modern book on the use of cork as insulation. All I can find is the rather wonderful but ancient textbook (1928 USA) by P.E. Thomas, downloadable for free from http://www.archive.org/details/array00thom. I’d appreciate any leads to newer documentation.

Comment on Cork: What makes this material so special? by Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 06:31:34 +0000

I am looking for any information about suppliers of cork insulation for Australia

Comment on Heron’s Head EcoCenter by Jill Moran

Jill Moran — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:11:12 +0000

It was great to read this article about Heron’s Head! I heard about this project over a year and a half ago, when construction was still underway. One of the aspects of this project which is not mentioned above is the fact that much of the cement that would typically be used in the foundation was replaced with fly ash (or it might have been slag…). The percentage was very high (over 60%?), and I love the subcontractor who helped to make that happen. Kudos to the whole team who worked on this great project. What a triumph!