You might not have heard of the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition, in fact you may not even realize you needed to know about them. But the truth is that the world is a better place with them. Knowing such an organization is out there protecting straw bales world wide should give you a warm […]
Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition – Web Site of the Week Read More »
I’m trying to design some stairs. They are from the basement to the cellar. You enter on the side and it spirrals to the right 90 degrees then follows the wall down. Once it reaches the cellar floor it spirals to the right again 45 degrees. Below is a diagram of it. The cool thing
Stair Design (old) Read More »
Here is an image of the proposed plumbing setup for the green show house in Brooklyn. Chester Birchwood from New York Solar Systems is installing it. It has three interesting components. These apply to hot water only since we are really managing the amount of energy we added to the hot water. The cold water
Hot Water Home Run, Return and Mixing Read More »
Here are some good PowerPoint from different trainings from the NYC Dept of sustainable Design. You can get a pretty good idea of the course from the slides. Last time I checked they had interesting material on: Energy Efficiency in New York City Energy Efficient & Quality Lighting Architectural Daylighting in New York City Commissioning
Green Training Materials Read More »
Here is a good general check list to keep in mind when building: Sustainable Site Results Stormwater run-off reduced Alternate transportation nearby Urban Heat Island Effect mitigated Nighttime light pollution reduced Strategies Native drought-resistant plantings; permeable paving Light-colored, high-reflectance, low-emissivity roofing Skylights and windows screened to limit bothersome light escape at night Urban setting near
Green Building Checklist Read More »
New York recently approved the use of PVC as drain pipes. PVC is considered very “not green”, mostly because it basically takes forever to decompose, so it sits around in landfills for hundreds of years. Or it gets burned and lets off all sorts of nasty chemicals. From a practical point it is also much
Drain Pipes: Iron or PVC? Read More »
I’ve put pex tubes between joists under the subfloor. that is how my radiant guy designed it. The whole theory that as long as you contain the heat it will get to the room eventually etc. I also couldn’t put them above the floor due to a low ceiling. Since then I have realized the
Adding a Concrete Sub Floor Heat Collector Read More »
Finding an architect who can draw up plans to your liking is not easy. A good architect has a combination of the following things: Can draw to meet DOB code Can draw in a timely manner Understands spacial relations and how they effect people Understands passive solar gain and cooling Is creative Designs around your
22 2nd Street Plans Read More »
There are certain inalienable elements that every human needs in their environment in order to stay healthy and happy. These elements are green, timeless, and universal. They are: 1. sunlight by day 2. darkness by night 3. greenery 4. water 5. meaningful sounds 6. fresh gently moving air 7. thermal comfort within thermal variation (not
What We Need, the Basics Read More »
