Architectural Styles...

Want to test your architectural style knowledge? The Oregonian has a down and dirty list of important architectural styles throughout the ages, from native long houses up to Contemporary. The list is comprehensive, but the information is simple, and concise and each style has sweet little illustrations. Each style features: The date range of popularity, the roots or origin of design, style characteristics, building materials commonly used and location in the country where the design is most often found. For those of you who have seen our building, it was loosely...

Austria Passive House Update...

In an earlier blog post we mentioned the Austria House, which will be the party house for all things Austrian during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The house is designed and constructed to meet the rigorous Passive House standards.  At it’s essence, a passive  building will maintain a comfortable interior climate without an active heating and cooling system. Passive refers to the fact that the home will heat and cool itself. Our lead designer, Tessa Smith, visited the Austria House recently. Having gone through the Passive House training earlier this year, she knows...

Passivhaus (Passive House) II...

This blog follows on from our previous post – Passivhaus (Passive House I). It’s a whole new playing field for construction these days. Designing and building with the environment is becoming the standard in new home building and remodeling projects. It’s an exciting time and fun for us to keep our eyes peeled for exceptional projects out there. We’ll post those often as we discover the nuggets, but for now, here is a couple that we think are worthy of note. 1.Passivhaus (Passive House) -Whistler, BC This is an interesting project that is taking place just...

Passivhaus (Passive House) I...

With concerns about rising energy costs and detrimental climate changes, it’s no wonder uber energy efficiency is finally starting to catch on. The Passivhaus Institute has created the highest energy standards to date in our country. Imagine heating your house with the btu’s generated by repeatedly throwing a squeaky toy down the hallway for your royal indoor Retriever. The concept of the Passive House (Passivhaus in German) – PHIUS for short in the United States — was first developed by Professor Bo Adamson and Doctor Wolfgang Feist. The first...