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Zero Energy Idea House in Washington

Friday, October 30th, 2009

It’s time to follow up on a project a cool project, the Zero Energy Idea House, that we mentioned at ground breaking in July 2008. Located at Bass Cove near Bellevue, Washington, the 1,630 square-foot, two-bedroom Zero Energy Idea House was designed by Clinkston Brunner Architects and built by Shirey Contracting. Overlooking Lake Sammamish, the home is planted into the hill as a demonstration of energy efficiency — the goal is to show that it generates as much energy as it uses.

( via - jetsongreen.com )

Tags: house, Washington, zero energy
Posted in Clinkston Brunner, Energy management, Idea House, Save Energy, USA, architecture, energy modeling, energy saving, infrastructure, smart energy, zero energy | No Comments »

California Architect Thinks About White Roofs

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

If every building had a white roof, we would be able to cool the surrounding areas. That is the reasoning behind a California law about to go into effect next month requiring light reflective roofs on all new buildings. It is already the law for new flat roofs here.

Here, architect Richard Meier and his partner Michael Palladino have apparently created a design to go one further. It’s entirely white; roofs, walls, and interiors.

So this luxury design of a cool and airy Southern California beach house is glamorous and climate friendly.Well, no. The McMansion-sized size of the thing at 4,280-sq.-ft is not so planet friendly; because it takes more energy to heat and cool a larger space. But this house would be well suited for a ground heat exchange to passively heat and cool itself with 55 degree air cooled from 10 feet under the ground.

As architects in California get closer to 2020, they will need to think more about passive cooling and heating and zero energy houses, as that will be the law by 2020. All new building must be zero energy by then.

Incorporate solar roofing on the white roof, and this could be a zero energy house.

The blue of a solar roof would visually extend right out to the ocean. (And conceal that horrible mess of mechanical contraptions on that roof.) White elastomeric cool roof paint under the solar panels would help cool the modules making them more efficient on hot days.

( via - greenbuildingelements )

Tags: California, Passive cooling, white roof, zero energy house
Posted in House Painting, Save Energy, Solar-Powered, USA, architecture, builders, buildings, construction, energy saving, green building | No Comments »

In Hawaii, a 1,600-ton temple is built by hand

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

Rising on a 358-acre monastery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is an architectural feat rare in today

Posted in Hinduism, India, USA, architecture, construction, heritage, history, temple | No Comments »

The tragedy of suburbia

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

In James Howard Kunstler’s view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.

Posted in USA, architecture, buildings, design, urbanism, video | No Comments »

Neighbors upset over house’s hot pink paint

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Residents of Dennisville, New Jersey are seeing red because of a hot pink house.

The owners of the Nathaniel Holmes, Jr. House located in Dennisville’s historic district have painted the building and neighboring gift shop “forward fuschia”.

The house was built 208 years ago, and up until this week was white, much like the other historical buildings that surround it.

Some residents are upset over the color choice, but there may be nothing they can do.

According to the town council, the community doesn’t have any rules about house color.

Posted in USA, colors, exterior, news, paints, video, weird | No Comments »

A tour of Fallingwater

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

Fallingwater, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most widely acclaimed works, was designed in 1936 for the family of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann.

The key to the setting of the house is the waterfall over which it is built. The falls had been a focal point of the Kaufmann’s activities, and the family had indicated the area around the falls as the location for a home. They were unprepared for Wright’s suggestion that the house rise over the waterfall, rather than face it. But the architect’s original scheme was adopted almost without change.

Completed with a guest and service wing in 1939, Fallingwater was constructed of sandstone quarried on the property and was built by local craftsmen. The stone serves to separate reinforced concrete “trays”, forming living and bedroom levels, dramatically cantilevered over the stream. Fallingwater was the weekend home of the Kaufmann family from 1937 until 1963, when the house, its contents, and grounds were presented to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy by Edgar Kaufmann, jr. Fallingwater is the only remaining great Wright house with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact.

In 1986, New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote: “This is a house that summed up the 20th century and then thrust it forward still further. Within this remarkable building Frank Lloyd Wright recapitulated themes that had preoccupied him since his career began a half-century earlier, but he did not reproduce them literally. Instead, he cast his net wider, integrating European modernism and his own love of nature and of structural daring, and pulled it all together into a brilliantly resolved totality. Fallingwater is Wright’s greatest essay in horizontal space; it is his most powerful piece of structural drama; it is his most sublime integration of man and nature.”

Posted in Frank Llyod Wright, USA, architecture, buildings, design, heritage, history, video | No Comments »

US crisis hits Mumbai commercial property

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

London-based banking major Barclays Bank created history in May when it took space at Cee Jay House, a landmark office complex in Worli, for Rs 725 a square foot (sq ft) per month.
The building owned by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is fully occupied with the likes of the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse and Societe Generale, among others.
The developers are building 80,000 sq ft of space next to Cee Jay House, and leading brokers said they are getting enquiries for Rs 300-350 per sq ft.

Though property developer Indiabulls Real Estate is leasing office space at One Indiabulls Centre, an upcoming commercial complex at Lower Parel, at Rs 325 per sq ft per month and closed deals with big companies for Rs 275 per sq ft as anchor tenants, property brokers said they are now getting queries for Rs 200-225 a sq ft, 40 per cent less than the quoted price.

Commercial rentals in Mumbai are beginning to crack and deals for office space have slowed over 30 per cent in the last three months. Leading property brokers and consultants in Mumbai say things will be worse with prospective tenants asking for a 50 per cent cut in rates.

US meltdown will further hit real estate market

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

The US financial crisis, which has seen some big Wall Street giants collapsing, is bound to have a cascading effect on the Indian real estate market that has already slowed down considerably over the past one year.

Global banks and brokerages have had to write off an estimated $512 billion in subprime losses so far, with the largest hits taken by Citigroup ($55.1 billion) and Merrill Lynch ($52.2 billion).

According to housing experts , about $4 billion has been pumped into the Indian real estate market by FIIs and venture capital funds. “Another $12 to $14 billion was to flow in within the next 18 months. This will not come anymore,” said Pranay Vakil, chairman of Knight Frank India, a global property consultancy firm.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, the most recent of the big names crashing, will have a tremendous effect on the already floundering property market in India. “Money is going to dry up. Options before developers are very few as they are not able to raise money. As a result, their existing projects will suffer,” said Vakil.

Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners had given Rs 740 crore to Unitech Ltd, for its mixed use development project in Santa Cruz. Lehman had also signed a MoU with Peninsula Land Ltd-a Ashok Piramal real estate company-to fund the latter’s projects to the tune of Rs 576 crore.

According to him, longterm sentiments are bad and it will only worsen. Sources said several builders have started taking loans from private money lenders at high interest rates of 30% to 40%.

Anuj Puri, chairman and country head of Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj said this is not the end of the global financial crisis. “A lot more will come out, which will have a negative impact on the property market,” he said. Puri observed that in Tier 2 cities prices have already dropped by 15% to 20%. However, there has still been no price adjustment in Delhi and Mumbai.

“Developers are expecting business to pick up during Diwali . But it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. As it is, developers are facing a liquidity crunch. The big ones are using their own capital they made when the market was booming for the past four years,” added Puri. However, he said that none of the builders had gone belly up.

Vakil of Knight Frank said builders are still holding on to their prices, and unless they lower the prices, demand for flats will not open up. “At lower prices, volumes will improve ,” he added.

TOI has learnt that in Borivli east, a developer who was quoting Rs 7,300 a sq ft in his residential project, recently slashed the price down to Rs 6,300 a sq ft. “He sold about 35 flats during the Ganpati festival itself,” said a broker.

A property expert, not wishing to be identified, said the recent collapse of banks like Lehman Brothers and other big financial institutions, will render thousands of employees jobless in India. “Many of these employees would have taken home loans. Unless they find new jobs fast enough, the banks will not offer them an extended buffer period to start repaying their EMIs,” he observed.

Akshaya Kumar, CEO of Park Lane Property Advisors said the global crisis will see money dry up even further. “The developers will be strangulated further,” he predicted.

(via Times of India)

Posted in India, USA, investing, news, property, real estate | No Comments »

Lunchtime atop a skyscraper

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

These 1932 photo by fearless photographer Charles C. Ebbets shows workmen eating lunch and relaxing (one is a night picture) on the 69th floor of the GE Building during the construction of Rockefeller Center. The photo was originally published in the New York Herald Tribune.

In additions to his daring work as a photographer, Ebbets worked as a pilot, a race car driver, and a professional wrestler.

Posted in Charles Ebbets, USA, buildings, construction, photography, skyscrapers | No Comments »

What is New Urbanism?

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

New Urbanism is an approach to designing cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Although the term New Urbanism emerged during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the principles of New Urbanism are actually quite old. New Urbanist town planners, developers, architects, and designers try to reduce traffic and eliminate sprawl.

A New Urbanist neighborhood resembles an old European village with homes and businesses clustered together. Instead of driving on highways, residents of New Urbanist neighborhoods can walk to shops, businesses, theaters, schools, parks, and other important services. Buildings and recreational areas are arranged to foster a sense of community closeness. New Urbanist designers also place importance on earth-friendly architecture, energy conservation, historic preservation, and accessibility.

The Congress for the New Urbanism is a loosely formed group of architects, builders, developers, landscape architects, engineers, planners, real estate professions, and other people who are committed to New Urbanist ideals. Founded by Peter Katz in 1993, the group outlined their beliefs in an important document known as the Charter of the New Urbanism.

Although New Urbanism has become popular, it has many critics. Some people say that New Urbanist towns are too carefully planned and feel artificial. Other critics say that New Urbanist towns take away personal freedom because residents must follow strict zoning rules before they build or remodel.

Also Known As: Neo-traditional Planning or Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND).

Examples: The first New Urbanist town was Seaside, Florida, built in the early 1980s. The most famous New Urbanist town is perhaps Celebration, Florida, which was built by the Walt Disney Company. There are now at least 600 New Urbanist neighborhoods in the United States, including:

Harbor Town, Tennessee
Kentlands, Maryland
King Farm, Maryland
Addison Circle, Texas
Orenco Station, Oregon
Mashpee Commons, Massachusetts
The Cotton District, Mississippi
Cherry Hill Village, Michigan

Posted in USA, architecture, design, news, urban planning, urbanism | No Comments »