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Sustainable Building Practice | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/sustainable-building-practice
Building construction and operations can have extensive direct and indirect impacts on the environment, society, and economy, which are commonly referred to as the 3 P’s (‘People’, ‘Planet’, ‘Pocketbook’). The field of sustainable design seeks to balance the needs of these areas by using an integrated approach to create win-win-win design solutions. Is the capacity of a building to be used for multiple uses and in multiple ways over the life of the building. For example, designing a building with mov...
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Introduction to Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/introduction-to-structural-insulated-panels-sips
Introduction to Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). Using stressed-skin panels can reduce the time to frame the building envelope by more than one-third. This time savings can improve a builder’s productivity and profitability by 16 percent. The most common sheathing boards are oriented strand boards (OSB). Other sheathing materials include: sheet metal, plywood, fiber-cement siding, magnesium-oxide board, fiberglass mat gypsum sheathing, and composite structural siding panels. Each sheathing mat...SIPs ...
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Buildings and Embodied Energy | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/buildings-and-embodied-energy
Buildings and Embodied Energy. Embodied energy is one part of a building material’s overall environmental impact. Embodied energy is the total energy required for the extraction, processing, manufacture and delivery of building materials to the building site. Energy consumption produces CO2, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, so embodied energy is considered an indicator of the overall environmental impact of building materials and systems. Why reduce embodied energy? Embodied energy is measu...
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The Principle of Thermal Mass | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/05/16/the-principle-of-thermal-mass
The Principle of Thermal Mass. Thermal mass is a vital and complimentary component of passive solar design. A material that has thermal mass is one that has the capacity to absorb, store and release the sun’s heat energy. Its density and levels of conductivity help to keep the internal temperature of a building stable. Objects that have thermal mass have inherent qualities for both heating and cooling. Basic Passive Solar Design. Chart of some common thermally massive materials. Thermal Mass and Heating.
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santacruzarchitect | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/author/santacruzarchitect
Why is the Washington Monument Not On-Center? My wife and I were fortunate to pass through Washington D.C. during last summer. That being my first visit, as an architect naturally I could not help but admire the Beaux Arts vistas, symbolism, and majesty of the Washington Mall. But something bothered me the centerline of the White House doesn’t line up with the Washington Monument. In a city so based on order and symmetry and strong axes, why is the Washington Monument not on axis? And tagged urban design.
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Smart Growth | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/smart-growth
Birch Street shops surround a large movie theater on the block to the right. This variety of storefronts creates a more interesting place to walk. One of the earliest efforts to establish smart growth as a regulatory framework were put forth by the American Planning Association which in 1997 introduced a project called Growing Smart. And published “Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and the Management of Change. A range of housing choices. A strong sense of place. Why is the...
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EcoDistricts | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/ecodistricts
Proposed “SouthWest Ecodistrict”, Washington, D.C. Originated by the City of Portland and the Portland Sustainability Institute (PoSI), the term EcoDistrict refers to a conceptual framework for planning, designing, implementing and maintaining sustainable solutions at a district level. Like the growth of cities, the infrastructure that supports urban lives has evolved over time into an arbitrary and inefficient patchwork. Applying sustainability to existing cities will require transforming the urban ...
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SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com | Reflections and Insights of Daniel Silvernail Architect, Inc. © 2016 all rights reserved | Page 2
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/page/2
The house is the place of abode, rest, rejuvenation, and sustenance. We base our lives in houses, but how many of us have actually taken the time to identify, formalize, and put to writing what constitutes our dream for our ideal house? Here is a found essay, originally posted by dxallen23, describing such a vision. Continue reading →. This entry was posted in Santa Cruz Architect. And tagged architectural design. July 23, 2016. This entry was posted in Santa Cruz Architect. June 26, 2016. June 25, 2016.
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Managing Your Project’s Budget: An Overview | SantaCruzArchitect.wordpress.com
https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/budgeting-your-residential-project-part-1-overview
Managing Your Project’s Budget: An Overview. Editors note: this article is the first of an occasional series which will explore the important topic of construction cost management from one architect’s perspective. In its most recent assessment, polling by Houzz indicates that personal lifestyle is the single largest factor in homeowner’s decision-making with respect to budget. And, 2). within that budget, do you choose to allocate your money? This entry was posted in Santa Cruz Architect. July 18, 2015.
